The Economics of Online Dating: A Course in Economic Modeling
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Monaco, Andrew J.
2018-01-01
The author discusses the development of a unique course, The Economics of Online Dating. The course is an upper-level undergraduate course that combines intensive discussion, peer review, and economic theory to teach modeling skills to undergraduates. The course uses the framework of "online dating," interpreted broadly, as a point of…
An Analysis of Economic Learning among Undergraduates in Introductory Economics Courses in Germany
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Happ, Roland; Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Olga; Schmidt, Susanne
2016-01-01
In this article, the authors present the findings of a pretest-posttest measurement of the economic knowledge of students in introductory economics courses in undergraduate study programs in Germany. The responses of 403 students to 14 items selected from the "Test of Economic Literacy" (Soper and Walstad 1987) were analyzed to identify…
Capstone Senior Research Course in Economics
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Li, Ishuan; Simonson, Robert
2016-01-01
In this article, the authors describe the structure and assessment of a capstone course in economics. The outcomes are noteworthy for three reasons. First, among cited evidence to date, this is the only undergraduate economics program from a nonselective public university reporting similar achievements in undergraduate research paper publications.…
Comparative Economics Systems in the Undergraduate Curriculum: An Update
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kovzik, Alexander; Johnson, Marianne
2016-01-01
In this study, the authors report on the status of comparative economics systems in the U.S. undergraduate economics curriculum. The treatment of comparative economics systems topics in introductory courses is examined through a survey of standard textbooks. To evaluate comparative economics systems at the advanced undergraduate level, they rely…
Student Performance in Undergraduate Economics Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mumford, Kevin J.; Ohland, Matthew W.
2011-01-01
Using undergraduate student records from six large public universities from 1990 to 2003, the authors analyze the characteristics and performance of students by major in two economics courses: Principles of Microeconomics and Intermediate Microeconomics. This article documents important differences across students by major in the principles course…
Retention of Economics Principles by Undergraduates on Alternative Curricular Structures
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johnson, Daniel K. N.; Lybecker, Kristina M.; Taylor, Corrine H.
2011-01-01
The authors investigated whether the curricular structure of an economics course (semester, trimester, or compressed block schedule) has an effect on an undergraduate's subsequent retention of course material, while controlling for other relevant differences. They tested separately for theoretical or process comprehension and for graphical…
The Role of Grade Sensitivity in Explaining the Gender Imbalance in Undergraduate Economics
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rask, Kevin; Tiefenthaler, Jill
2008-01-01
There is a gender imbalance in undergraduate economics departments with most departments educating a strong majority of young men. This imbalance has led many economists to ponder the question of why relatively few women choose to take courses and major in economics. Our hypothesis is that the gender imbalance in undergraduate economics,…
Economics and planning in the veterinary undergraduate programme: a model for sub-Saharan Africa.
Mlangwa, J E; Kisauzi, D N
1993-09-01
Veterinarians in sub-Saharan Africa work in resource-deficient environments. Decisions taken by veterinarians in this sub-region, on animal health, animal husbandry and public health issues, are therefore influenced by economic factors including macro-economic considerations related to the current structural adjustment programmes being implemented in the sub-region. In turn, decisions or advice given by veterinarians have socio-economic consequences on clients, on the effectiveness of the delivery systems for veterinary services and on the growth of national economies. For these reasons, economics and planning should be essential components of all modern veterinary undergraduate programmes in sub-Saharan Africa, in order to give veterinarians a basis for making decisions and giving advice which is both technically and economically sound. The authors argue that principles of livestock economics, livestock enterprise management, livestock investment analysis and economics of animal health care are necessary elements in economics and planning courses. They propose a division of these elements into discrete course units to allow for flexibility and adaptability to the different curriculum structures of schools in sub-Saharan Africa and, possibly, continuing professional development courses. The resource requirement for teaching the courses, the integration of the units in the undergraduate programme and the problems which are likely to be encountered in developing the courses are discussed.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Watts, Michael; Becker, William E.
2008-01-01
In 1995, 2000, and 2005, the authors surveyed U.S. academic economists to investigate how economics is taught in four different types of undergraduate courses at postsecondary institutions. They especially looked for any changes in teaching methods that occurred over this decade, when there were several prominent calls for economists and…
Does Studying Economics in College Influence Loan Decisions Later in Life?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bosshardt, William; Walstad, William B.
2018-01-01
The authors investigate the relationship between undergraduate economics coursework or majoring in economics and the debt behavior of the college graduates. The data come from the Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) longitudinal survey of the National Center for Education Statistics. College graduates who took courses in undergraduate economics or…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wetzel, James N.; And Others
1982-01-01
Reports the results of a study that examined the influence of learning and teaching styles on changes in student achievement in economics and attitude toward economics among undergraduates enrolled in an introductory economics course. (AM)
Teaching Economics to the Best Undergraduates: What Are the Problems?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Andreopoulos, Giuliana Campanelli; Panayides, Alexandros
2009-01-01
Economics is usually perceived as a difficult subject among undergraduate students with negative repercussions on their performance. The literature suggests that the students' problems with principles of economics are mainly related to the style and method of teaching together with the course content. Particularly attacked are the chalk and talk…
Undergraduate Coursework in Economics: A Survey Perspective
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Siegfried, John J.; Walstad, William B.
2014-01-01
Survey results from a large sample of economics departments describe offerings for principles courses, coursework requirements for economics majors, and program augmentations such as capstone courses, senior seminars, and honors programs. Findings are reported for all institutions, and institutions are subdivided into six different categories…
Using Computers in Undergraduate Economics Courses.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Barr, Saul Z.; Harmon, Oscar
Seven computer assignments for undergraduate economics students that concentrate on building a foundation for programming higher level mathematical calculations are described. The purpose of each assignment, the computer program for it, and the correct answers are provided. "Introduction to Text Editing" acquaints the student with some…
A Research-Based Development Economics Course for Undergraduates
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Singh, Prakarsh; Guo, Hongye; Morales, Alvaro
2015-01-01
The authors present details of a research-based course in development economics taught at a private liberal arts college. There were three key elements in this class: teaching of applied econometrics, group presentations reviewing published and working papers in development economics, and using concepts taught in class to write an original…
Web-Based Surveys Facilitate Undergraduate Research and Knowledge
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Grimes, Paul, Ed.; Steele, Scott R.
2008-01-01
The author presents Web-based surveying as a valuable tool for achieving quality undergraduate research in upper-level economics courses. Web-based surveys can be employed in efforts to integrate undergraduate research into the curriculum without overburdening students or faculty. The author discusses the value of undergraduate research, notes…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Biewen, Martin; Happ, Roland; Schmidt, Susanne; Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, Olga
2018-01-01
In this study we examine the determinants of and the relationship among economic knowledge, epistemological beliefs, and extrinsic and intrinsic motivation over the course of undergraduate studies in a sample of students of business and economics at a university in Germany. We found economic knowledge increased over the course of studies,…
Teaching Agricultural Ethics in the Agricultural Economics Curriculum. Faculty Paper Series 86-5.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Thompson, Paul B.
The undergraduate course in agricultural ethics has been under development at Texas A&M University for four years. The course that has evolved is the result of discussion between the philosophy and agriculture departments. The course attempts to incorporate basic economic principles that affect agriculture as well as to tie these principles to…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Williams, Elmer; Dalton, Don
This 12-hour module of instruction is designed to help undergraduates in social studies methods courses integrate economics education into the secondary school social studies curriculum. The major purposes of the module are to (1) reinforce or extend teacher education students' understanding of selected basic economic concepts, (2) develop an…
Direct Foreign Investment in the United Kingdom.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hinde, Kevin
1987-01-01
Notes introductory undergraduate economics textbooks have no formal analysis of the rationale for direct foreign investment by multinational firms. Examines this area in an attempt to develop more content information for undergraduate courses. (RKM)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stock, Wendy A.; Ward, Kevin; Folsom, Justin; Borrenpohl, Teresa; Mumford, Sophie; Pershin, Zach; Carriere, Danielle; Smart, Heather
2013-01-01
The authors examine the impacts of enrollment in a voluntary one-credit recitation class for ECON 101 students, focusing on course grades, course retention, and outcomes in later economics courses. The recitation classes were taught by undergraduate peer leaders with experience in upper-level microeconomics. Instead of being paid, the peer leaders…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Williams, Elmer; Dalton, Don
This 12-hour module of instruction is designed to help undergraduates in social studies methods courses integrate economics education into the elementary school social studies curriculum. The major purposes of the module are to (1) demonstrate how economics concepts can be integrated into social studies instruction, (2) reinforce or extend teacher…
Using Game Theory and the Bible to Build Critical Thinking Skills
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McCannon, Bryan C.
2007-01-01
The author describes a course designed to build the critical thinking skills of undergraduate economics students. The course introduces and uses game theory to study the Bible. Students gain experience using game theory to formalize events and, by drawing parallels between the Bible and common economic concepts, illustrate the pervasiveness of…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Overall, J. U.; Marsh, Herbert W.
The relative contribution of course level (undergraduate versus graduate), course type (accounting, economics, management theory, etc.) and the specific instructor on students' evaluation of instruction was investigated. College students (N=1374) evaluated teaching effectiveness both at the end of each course (N=100) and again one year after…
Introducing Empirical Exercises into Principles of Economics.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McGrath, Eileen L.; Tiemann, Thomas K.
1985-01-01
A rationale for requiring undergraduate students to become familiar with the empirical side of economics is presented, and seven exercises that can be used in an introductory course are provided. (Author/RM)
The Present State of Economic Education in Japan
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yamaoka, Michio; Asano, Tadayoshi; Abe, Shintaro
2010-01-01
The authors describe the present state of economic education in Japan. There is a larger number of undergraduate students who major in economics, but their purpose of studying economics and their economic literacy differ. Precollege economic education is regulated by the course of study and limited by the poor ability of teachers to teach the…
Teaching Learning Curves in an Undergraduate Economics or Operations Management Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Naidu, Jaideep T.; Sanford, John F.
2012-01-01
Learning Curves has its roots in economics and behavioral psychology. Learning Curves theory has several business applications and is widely used in the industry. As faculty of Operations Management courses, we cover this topic in some depth in the classroom. In this paper, we present some of our teaching methods and material that have helped us…
Teaching "The Nuclear Predicament."
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Carman, Philip; Kneeshaw, Stephen
1987-01-01
Contends that courses on nuclear war must help students examine the political, social, religious, philosophical, economic, and moral assumptions which characterized the dilemma of nuclear armament/disarmament. Describes the upper level undergraduate course taught by the authors. (JDH)
From Rhythm and Blues to Broadway: Using Music To Teach Economics.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tinari, Frank D.; Khandke, Kailash
2000-01-01
Describes using song lyrics in undergraduate principles of economics courses to help the students learn economics. Discusses two music essay projects and includes examples of student responses. Addresses the benefits/costs and suggested refinements of the project. Includes references. (CMK)
Interurban Systems and Regional Economic Development, Resource Paper No. 26.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stohr, Walter B.
This resource paper on economic geography is part of a series designed to supplement undergraduate geography courses. It interprets regional economic development in terms of geographic spatial patterns of production, income, and physical or economic distance. Chapter two outlines some selected characteristics of spatial disparities of economic…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bryant, William D. A.
1994-01-01
Asserts that errors frequently are made in teaching about the second fundamental theorem of welfare economics. Describes how this issue usually is taught in undergraduate economics courses. Discusses how this interpretation contains errors and may hinder students' analysis of public policy regarding welfare systems. (CFR)
Results from a Faculty Development Program in Teaching Economics
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Walstad, William B.; Salemi, Michael K.
2011-01-01
The Teaching Innovations Program (TIP) was a six-year project funded by the National Science Foundation that gave economics instructors the opportunity to learn interactive teaching strategies for use in undergraduate economics courses. TIP participants first attended a teaching workshop that presented various teaching strategies. They then could…
Women and the Choice to Study Economics
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Emerson, Tisha L. N.; McGoldrick, KimMarie; Mumford, Kevin J.
2012-01-01
Underrepresentation of women in economics is documented in many studies. Investigation of its sources at the undergraduate level is examined through students' decisions to persist in economics, either beyond an introductory course or in their major choices. The authors add to the literature by analyzing students' decisions to take their first…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hansen, W. Lee
2014-01-01
The standard evaluation forms used in most college and university courses are ill suited to assess courses and instructors whose goals and pedagogy differ significantly from the "chalk and talk" approach to undergraduate instruction. This article discusses an evaluation form that the author, a professor emeritus of economics at the…
Teaching and Assessment Methods in Undergraduate Economics: A Fourth National Quinquennial Survey
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Watts, Michael; Schaur, Georg
2011-01-01
Surveys in 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010 investigated teaching and assessment methods in different undergraduate courses. In this article, the authors offer basic results from the 2010 survey. "Chalk and talk" remains the dominant teaching style, but there were drops in mean (although not median) values for those pedagogies and some growth in the use…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Opdecam, Evelien; Everaert, Patricia; Van Keer, Hilde; Buysschaert, Fanny
2014-01-01
This study investigates students' "preference" for team learning and its effectiveness, compared to lecture-based learning. A quasi-experiment was set up in a financial accounting course in the first-year undergraduate of the Economics and Business Administration Program, where students had to choose between one of the two learning…
A Visual Construct on the Role of the Teacher in Multicultural Education.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stuckman, Ralph E.
This paper describes an undergraduate teacher education course offered at Urbana University (Ohio). The course introduces preservice teachers to the nature of multiculturalism in terms of economic, social, intellectual, age, and gender differences, leading participants to explore this educational process from sociological and psychological…
Key, Brian; Nurcombe, Victor
2003-01-01
This report describes the road map we followed at our university to accommodate three main factors: financial pressure within the university system; desire to enhance the learning experience of undergraduates; and motivation to increase the prominence of the discipline of developmental biology in our university. We engineered a novel, multi-year undergraduate developmental biology program which was "student-oriented," ensuring that students were continually exposed to the underlying principles and philosophy of this discipline throughout their undergraduate career. Among its key features are introductory lectures in core courses in the first year, which emphasize the relevance of developmental biology to tissue engineering, reproductive medicine, therapeutic approaches in medicine, agriculture and aquaculture. State-of-the-art animated computer graphics and images of high visual impact are also used. In addition, students are streamed into the developmental biology track in the second year, using courses like human embryology and courses shared with cell biology, which include practicals based on modern experimental approaches. Finally, fully dedicated third-year courses in developmental biology are undertaken in conjunction with stand-alone practical courses where students experiencefirst-hand work in a research laboratory. Our philosophy is a "cradle-to-grave" approach to the education of undergraduates so as to prepare highly motivated, enthusiastic and well-educated developmental biologists for entry into graduate programs and ultimately post-doctoral research.
Professional Training of Economists in the USA
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rudnitska, Kateryna
2014-01-01
The article deals with the peculiarities of American professional undergraduate and graduate training in economics. The analysis of documents, scientific and educational literature demonstrates the diversity of the US training courses and combinations of disciplines in economics. It has been defined that leading position of the USA in the world…
The Impact of Lecture Capture on Student Performance in Business Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Terry, Neil; Macy, Anne; Clark, Robin; Sanders, Gary
2015-01-01
This paper examines the effect of the e-learning technology of lecture capture on the performance of undergraduate business students in business law, economics, finance, and management courses. The sample consists of 890 student observations at a midsized regional institution located in the Southwestern region of the United States. The dependent…
Student-Produced Videos for Exam Review in Mathematics Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hulsizer, Heidi
2016-01-01
Videos have been used in classrooms for decades, but student-produced video has recently become a viable, economical option to enhance learning. Students were asked to create videos to be used for their exam review in two different undergraduate mathematics courses: Differential Equation and Complex Analysis. Students were then surveyed about…
Teaching with Data in the Principles of Macroeconomics Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zhuang, Hong
2012-01-01
Economic data play an important role in the study of macroeconomics. Teaching with data through interactive classes can engage students more fully in the learning process. Although the pedagogy of teaching with data has been widely applied in the undergraduate science classroom, its extension to the economics classroom is rarely discussed. This…
Using "The Merchant of Venice" in Teaching Monetary Economics.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kish-Goodling, Donna M.
1999-01-01
Describes the use of Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" in an undergraduate course in monetary economics, focusing on the usury theme origins of usury laws, scholastic arguments on paying interest for using money, civil usury laws, and modern theories of interest. It is argued that the play provides an interesting vehicle for an…
Using Illustrations from American Novels to Teach about Labor Markets
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Vachris, Michelle Albert; Bohanon, Cecil E.
2012-01-01
This article illustrates how literature can bring models to life in undergraduate courses on labor market economics. The authors argue that economics instructors and students can benefit from even small doses of literature. The authors examine excerpts from five American novels: "Sister Carrie" by Theodore Drieser (1900/2005); "The Grapes of…
Student Performance in Online and Face-to-Face Microeconomics: Evidence from Adult Learners
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Medcalfe, Simon
2009-01-01
There have been few studies comparing student performance in online and face-to-face economics courses. Those studies that have been undertaken have concentrated on traditional students (18- to 22-year-olds). This paper examines student outcomes in an undergraduate course in microeconomics taught to non-traditional students (average age is 33…
What Would Adam Smith Have on His iPod? Uses of Music in Teaching the History of Economic Thought
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Van Horn, Robert; Van Horn, Monica
2013-01-01
In this article, the authors examine two ways that they use music (i.e., popular song lyrics) as an active learning technique in an undergraduate history of economic thought course. First, they use music to help students grasp the ideas of the great thinkers in economics and see their relevance today. Second, because they require students to read…
Evaluation tools for undergraduate program planning in times of financial austerity.
O'Palka, J; Harris, P R
1990-05-01
This article describes the administration and outcome of two evaluation tools developed by faculty of the dietetic program for ongoing assessment of a Plan IV dietetic education program over a 4-year period. Interns and internship directors were asked to evaluate the level of skills and knowledge base of interns compared with their internship classmates. Interns were also asked to rate the effectiveness of undergraduate course assignments and activities for internship preparation. As a result of the surveys, the home economics core course work was deleted, credits were shifted from food science to nutrient metabolism courses, and credits in clinical nutrition were increased. Projects in clinical nutrition and food systems management were modified. The surveys justified program requirements and utilization of resources, and provided an additional, effective measure of faculty competence.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Teixeira, Aurora A. C.
2016-01-01
The empirical literature focusing mainly on the USA suggests that class absenteeism undermines students' academic performance and that an enforced mandatory attendance policy may be beneficial. Based on a different cultural and economic context, and using data on 146 second-year management students enrolled in a macroeconomics course at an elite…
Participation in the Political Process.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stabler, John B.
This paper describes an undergraduate political science course at Indiana State University (Terre Haute) entitled "Contemporary Political Problems." Current politics, economics, and social problems are emphasized. The underlying objective is to encourage students to participate in a knowledgeable and meaningful manner in the political…
An Industrial Analysis for Integrating Business Subjects.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kapusinski, Albert T.
1986-01-01
Describes the industrial analysis seminar at Caldwell College (New Jersey), which was designed to be a capstone course for undergraduate business majors, allowing them to bring business topics into focus by using all their collected business acumen: accounting, marketing, management, economics, law, etc. (CT)
Global Inequalities: Gender, Class, and Race/Ethnicity.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shope, Janet Hinson; Singer, Eric
1996-01-01
Discusses a case study approach to internationalizing an undergraduate interdisciplinary sociology course that explores the sources and consequences of inequality. Presents three case studies from Baltimore (Maryland), Japan, and Zimbabwe, each one detailing social and economic causes of inequality. Briefly covers class assignments and a…
National parks and protected areas: Appoaches for balancing social, economic, and ecological values
Prato, Tony; Fagre, Daniel B.
2005-01-01
National Parks and Protected Areas: Approaches for Balancing Social, Economic and Ecological Values is peerless in its unified treatment of the issues surrounding this subject. From decision-making for planning and management to the principles of ecology and economics, this text examines the analytical methods, information technologies, and planning and management problems associated with protected area planning and management. Protected area managers and students in undergraduate and graduate courses in natural resource management will appreciate this highly readable book.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lancaster, Zak
2011-01-01
This article offers a linguistic analysis of interpersonal stancetaking in four argumentative term papers written in an upper-level undergraduate course in economics. Two of the papers were written by English L2 writers who experienced particular difficulty with the assignment and two by English L1 writers who received the highest grades among the…
A Classroom Experiment on Exchange Rate Determination with Purchasing Power Parity
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mitchell, David T.; Rebelein, Robert P.; Schneider, Patricia H.; Simpson, Nicole B.; Fisher, Eric
2009-01-01
The authors developed a classroom experiment on exchange rate determination appropriate for undergraduate courses in macroeconomics and international economics. In the experiment, students represent citizens from different countries and need to obtain currency to purchase goods. By participating in an auction to buy currency, students gain a…
Urbanization and Environmental Quality. Resource Papers for College Geography.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lakshmanan, T. R.; And Others
The resource paper examines urban problems related to the environment. It is suitable for use in undergraduate or graduate courses in urban geography, economic development and environment, urban environment, and environmental policy analysis. The paper is organized in five chapters. The introduction traces the concern with environmental quality…
An Experiment in Comparative Advantage.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Haupert, Michael J.
1996-01-01
Describes an undergraduate economics course experiment designed to teach the concepts of comparative advantage and opportunity costs. Students have a limited number of labor hours and can chose to produce either wheat or steel. As the project progresses, the students trade commodities in an attempt to maximize use of their labor hours. (MJP)
A new model in teaching undergraduate research: A collaborative approach and learning cooperatives.
O'Neal, Pamela V; McClellan, Lynx Carlton; Jarosinski, Judith M
2016-05-01
Forming new, innovative collaborative approaches and cooperative learning methods between universities and hospitals maximize learning for undergraduate nursing students in a research course and provide professional development for nurses on the unit. The purpose of this Collaborative Approach and Learning Cooperatives (CALC) Model is to foster working relations between faculty and hospital administrators, maximize small group learning of undergraduate nursing students, and promote onsite knowledge of evidence based care for unit nurses. A quality improvement study using the CALC Model was implemented in an undergraduate nursing research course at a southern university. Hospital administrators provided a list of clinical concerns based on national performance outcome measures. Undergraduate junior nursing student teams chose a clinical question, gathered evidence from the literature, synthesized results, demonstrated practice application, and developed practice recommendations. The student teams developed posters, which were evaluated by hospital administrators. The administrators selected several posters to display on hospital units for continuing education opportunity. This CALC Model is a systematic, calculated approach and an economically feasible plan to maximize personnel and financial resources to optimize collaboration and cooperative learning. Universities and hospital administrators, nurses, and students benefit from working together and learning from each other. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Teaching Principles of Economics without "Chalk and Talk": The Experience of CNU Online.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Vachris, Michelle Albert
1999-01-01
Discusses the Christopher Newport University (Virginia) [CNU] online program in which students can complete their general education required courses and earn four-year undergraduate degrees online. Addresses the effects of technology on students and the problems encountered in an online environment. Includes reactions by George Bredon and Howard…
The Causes of and Gains from Intertemporal Trade
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Craighead, William D.; Miller, Norman C.
2010-01-01
The authors show how the causes of and the gains from current account imbalances can be integrated into undergraduate economics courses using the same pedagogical tools that are used to explain comparative advantage and the gains from trade. A nonzero current account provides a mechanism for intertemporal trade, and a country has a comparative…
Teaching Specific Purpose Translation: Utilization of Bilingual Contract Document as Parallel Corpus
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Siregar, Roswani
2017-01-01
This study introduced the specific purpose translation teaching to Indonesian undergraduate students at Universitas Al-Azhar Medan, Indonesia. The courses were attended by the Business and Economics students who are new to translation. As parallel corpus, bilingual contract documents in Indonesian and English were chosen to help the students to…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Greenaway, David
1978-01-01
Contends that the analysis of intra-industry trade supplements the subject of trade theory in undergraduate economics courses. Intra-industry trade is the situation in which a country both exports and imports the products of a particular industry, e.g. automobiles. Questions for discussion are included. (KC)
Integrating Clinical Neuropsychology into the Undergraduate Curriculum.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Puente, Antonio E.; And Others
1991-01-01
Claims little information exists in undergraduate education about clinical neuropsychology. Outlines an undergraduate neuropsychology course and proposes ways to integrate the subject into existing undergraduate psychology courses. Suggests developing specialized audio-visual materials for telecourses or existing courses. (NL)
Problem-Based Teaching in International Management: A Political/Economic Risk Assessment Exercise
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Daly, Paula S.; White, Marion M.; Zisk, Daniel S.; Cavazos, David E.
2013-01-01
This article draws from the current literature to examine problem-based learning (PBL) as a management education tool, and provides an example of how to incorporate PBL into an undergraduate international management course. Also included are an explanation of, and specific guidelines for, a PBL exercise focused on the analysis of "country risk"…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Edwards, David J.; Dainty, Andrew R. J.; Love, Peter E. D.
2004-01-01
Undergraduate applications to civil engineering courses have been declining at an alarming rate despite the industry's healthy economic activity. Concerns abound as to the long-term impact of this decline as the sector is already suffering skills shortages across virtually all of its occupations. This paper investigates the likely future trends in…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Okudan Kremer, Gül E.; Simpson, Timothy W.; Ashour, Omar M.
2013-01-01
In this paper, we present our efforts in embedding product archeology inspired curricula into two engineering courses along with assessment results. The assessment focuses on the effectiveness of the embedded curricula in enhancing students' understanding on the global, societal, environmental, and economic (GSEE) implications of engineering…
Striving to Involve Undergraduates in Economic Research at Wellesley College
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Butcher, Kristin F.; Weerapana, Akila
2017-01-01
One of the key advantages of attending a small liberal arts college is the opportunity to engage in research; at research universities, these opportunities are often given to graduate students. Further, smaller class sizes make it possible to personalize instruction to showcase how the tools students learn in their courses are used to answer…
Effectiveness of a Career Development Course on Students' Job Search Skills and Self-Efficacy
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McDow, Lauren W.; Zabrucky, Karen M.
2015-01-01
In the current economic landscape, most college students' primary goal for obtaining an undergraduate degree is an increase in job opportunities and salary potential. Additionally, the average combined result of graduates' job searches is one of the primary factors in rankings of higher education institutions. In this study we assessed the…
Field Experiments in a Course on Behavioral Economics: Nudging Students around Campus
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Castilla, Carolina
2014-01-01
In experiential education, the student learns through experience by observing a concept or phenomenon and applying this knowledge in a real-world context. A research project conducted by undergraduate students at a U.S. private liberal arts college is described in this article. The project provided opportunity for students to think about their…
The Same Old Hocus-Pocus: Pedagogies of Gender and Sexuality in "Shrek 2"
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marshall, Elizabeth; Sensoy, Ozlem
2009-01-01
The "Shrek" films are a popular worldwide and economic success. Drawing on an analysis of the film as well as responses from undergraduate students enrolled in a children's literature course, we analyze "Shrek 2" as a teaching machine in which normative discourses of gender and sexuality circulate under the guise of "girl power". We argue that…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Smart, Jimmy L.
2007-01-01
In this article, the author presents five problems that are representative of some of the "movie problems" that he has used on tests in various courses, including reactor design, heat transfer, mass transfer, engineering economics, and fluid mechanics. These problems tend to be open-ended. They can be challenging and can often be worked a variety…
Engaging Undergraduates in Economics
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gajwani, Kiran; Miron, Jeffrey
2015-01-01
Siegfried and Stock (2007) explore the undergraduate training of PhD economists. Their findings show that among U.S. undergraduate economics programs, the Harvard University Economics Department produces many eventual economics PhD recipients. In this article, the authors discuss Harvard's undergraduate economics program and highlight some key…
Establishing Common Course Objectives for Undergraduate Exercise Physiology
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Simonson, Shawn R.
2015-01-01
Undergraduate exercise physiology is a ubiquitous course in undergraduate kinesiology/exercise science programs with a broad scope and depth of topics. It is valuable to explore what is taught within this course. The purpose of the present study was to facilitate an understanding of what instructors teach in undergraduate exercise physiology, how…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Odom, Summer F.
2015-01-01
This exploratory, qualitative, descriptive study examined undergraduate student perspectives of pedagogy used in an undergraduate leadership elective course to describe how students view the effectiveness and impact of pedagogies used in the course. Undergraduate students (n = 28) reflected on the effectiveness of the pedagogies and the learning…
An Undergraduate Course in Modeling and Simulation of Multiphysics Systems
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ortiz-Rodriguez, Estanislao; Vazquez-Arenas, Jorge; Ricardez-Sandoval, Luis A.
2010-01-01
An overview of a course on modeling and simulation offered at the Nanotechnology Engineering undergraduate program at the University of Waterloo. The motivation for having this course in the undergraduate nanotechnology curriculum, the course structure, and its learning objectives are discussed. Further, one of the computational laboratories…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bodner, George M.
2017-08-01
When the author first became involved with the Green Chemistry movement, he noted that his colleagues in industry who were involved in one of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute® industrial roundtables emphasized the take-home message they described as the "triple bottom line." They noted that introducing Green Chemistry in industrial settings had economic, social, and environmental benefits. As someone who first went to school at age 5, and has been "going to school" most days for 65 years, it was easy for the author to see why introducing Green Chemistry into academics had similar beneficial effects within the context of economic, social and environmental domains at the college/university level. He was prepared to understand why faculty who had taught traditional courses often saw the advantage of incorporating Green Chemistry into the courses they teach. What was not as obvious is why students who were encountering chemistry for the first time were often equally passionate about the Green Chemistry movement. Recent attention has been paid, however, to a model that brings clarity to the hitherto vague term of "relevance" that might explain why integrating Green Chemistry into the undergraduate chemistry classroom can achieve a "quadruple bottom-line" for students because of potentially positive effects of adding a domain of "relevance" to the existing economic, social, and environmental domains.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brownell, Sara E.; Kloser, Matthew J.; Fukami, Tadishi; Shavelson, Rich
2012-01-01
Over the past decade, several reports have recommended a shift in undergraduate biology laboratory courses from traditionally structured, often described as "cookbook," to authentic research-based experiences. This study compares a cookbook-type laboratory course to a research-based undergraduate biology laboratory course at a Research 1…
Predictors of performance of students in biochemistry in a doctor of chiropractic curriculum.
Shaw, Kathy; Rabatsky, Ali; Dishman, Veronica; Meseke, Christopher
2014-01-01
Objective : This study investigated the effect of completion of course prerequisites, undergraduate grade point average (GPA), undergraduate degree, and study habits on the performance of students in the biochemistry course at Palmer College of Chiropractic Florida. Methods : Students self-reported information regarding academic preparation at the beginning of the semester using a questionnaire. Final exam grade and final course grade were noted and used as measures of performance. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to determine if number of prerequisites completed, undergraduate GPA, undergraduate degree, hours spent studying in undergraduate study, and hours spent studying in the first quarter of the chiropractic program were associated significantly with the biochemistry final exam grade or the final grade for the biochemistry course. Results : The number of prerequisites completed, undergraduate degree, hours spent studying in undergraduate study, and hours spent studying in the first quarter of the chiropractic program did not significantly affect the biochemistry final exam grade or the final grade for the biochemistry course, but undergraduate GPA did. Subsequent univariate analysis and Tukey's post hoc comparisons revealed that students with an undergraduate GPA in the 3.5 to 3.99 range earned significantly higher final course grades than students with an undergraduate GPA in the 2.5 to 2.99 range. Conclusion : No single variable was determined to be a factor that determines student success in biochemistry. The interrelationship between the factors examined warrants further investigation to understand fully how to predict the success of a student in the biochemistry course.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA. Div. of Undergraduate Education.
The Undergraduate Course and Curriculum Development Program of the National Science Foundation supports the development of courses in all disciplines to improve the quality of undergraduate courses and curricula in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. The purpose of the program in Curriculum Development in Mathematics: Calculus and…
A survey of resuscitation training in Canadian undergraduate medical programs.
Goldstein, D H; Beckwith, R K
1991-07-01
To establish a national profile of undergraduate training in resuscitation at Canadian medical schools, to compare the resuscitation training programs of the schools and to determine the cost of teaching seven resuscitation courses. Mail survey in 1989 and follow-up telephone interviews in 1991 to update and verify the information. The undergraduate deans of the 16 Canadian medical schools. The mail survey asked five questions: (a) Is completion of a standard first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) course a requirement for admission to medical school? (b) Are these courses and those in basic and advanced cardiac, trauma and neurologic life support for children and adults provided to undergraduate students? (c) During which undergraduate year are these courses offered? (d) Is their successful completion required for graduation? and (e) Who funds the training courses? The medical schools placed emphasis on the seven courses differently. More than half the schools required the completion of courses before admission or taught some courses but did not require the completion of the courses for graduation. On average, fewer than three of the seven courses were taught, and the completion of fewer than two was required for graduation. About half of the courses were funded by the universities. The annual projected maximum cost of teaching the seven courses was $1790 per medical student. The seven resuscitation courses have not been fully implemented at the undergraduate level in Canadian medical schools.
Introductory Disciplines of Astronomy in Undergraduation Geography in Brazilian Public Universities
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Henrique Azevedo Sobreira, Paulo
2015-08-01
There are some previous works about introductory disciplines of Astronomy in higher education in various undergraduation at Brazilian universities, but this is a specific research for Geography courses in public universities. Some undergraduate courses in Geography in Brazil offer introductory disciplines of Astronomy, since the second half of the twentieth century. This work presents an updated survey on the topic, and it proposes an effort at the national level, for the benefit of the increase in introductory disciplines of Astronomy in undergraduation in Geography. The data collected from public universities were obtained from the consultation of the websites of state universities, federal and county in 2012, 2013 and 2015, for information on the Geography courses and, among them, those with disciplines of Astronomy. The results show that there are 94 undergraduation in Geography courses in public universities, 12 of them had introductory disciplines of Astronomy until 2012 and 2013. In 2015 three of these disciplines were canceled which reduced to 9 universities. There were 23 undergraduation in Geography courses in 10 bachelor degrees and 14 education degrees with Astronomy disciplines. At 2015 it decreased to 20 in 5 bachelors and 8 education degrees. There are two undergraduation Geography courses with two introductory disciplines of Astronomy, while the other 18 offer only one discipline. The inclusion of introductory disciplines of Astronomy depends on the actions of professors' groups who works in undergraduation Geography courses, and of the astronomers initiative to offering them. The ideal is that the astronomers who actuate like professors in universities, normally in Math, Physics, Technologies, Enginnering and Science courses, they would can help and offer introductory disciplines in Astronomy for undergraduation in Geography courses.
Sample Undergraduate Linguistics Courses. Linguistics in the Undergraduate Curriculum, Appendix 5.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Linguistic Society of America, Washington, DC.
Thirty-six nontraditional undergraduate courses in linguistics are described. Course topics include: animal communication, bilingualism, sociolinguistics, introductory linguistics, language and formal reasoning, language and human conflict, language and power, language and sex, language and the brain, language planning, language typology and…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sharp, Gwen; Yao, Richard; Cresiski, Robin; Hahn, Kate
2013-01-01
There has been little research on the types of boundary issues encountered in undergraduate psychology field experience courses, despite the increased popularity of such courses. This case study identifies the frequency and types of boundary issues faced by undergraduate psychology students enrolled in such a course, including the most common…
German Castles, Customs and Culture: Introducing a New Approach to the Undergraduate Culture Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lalande, John F., II
2008-01-01
Courses on the culture of the German-speaking world (GSW) have long dotted the landscape of undergraduate course offerings at North American colleges and universities. The primary purpose of this article is to share information about a new kind of undergraduate culture course that uses castles as a vehicle for introducing students to past and…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brownell, Sara E.; Price, Jordan V.; Steinman, Lawrence
2013-01-01
Most scientists agree that comprehension of primary scientific papers and communication of scientific concepts are two of the most important skills that we can teach, but few undergraduate biology courses make these explicit course goals. We designed an undergraduate neuroimmunology course that uses a writing-intensive format. Using a mixture of…
Global Interconnectedness and Multiculturalism in Undergraduate Sociology Courses in the USA
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shin, Kyoung-Ho
2014-01-01
This study attempts to explain a process of inserting global transnational elements into an undergraduate sociology course. After a review of global themes covered in introductory sociology textbooks, the author administered two projects (Global Multiculturalism and Sociology of Wal-Mart) in an undergraduate sociology course. The current study…
Development of an Undergraduate Course--Internet-Based Instrumentation and Control
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zhuang, Hanqi; Morgera, Salvatore D.
2007-01-01
The objective, strategy, and implementation details of a new undergraduate course, Internet-based Instrumentation and Control, are presented. The course has a companion laboratory that is supported by the National Science Foundation and industry. The combination is offered to senior-level undergraduate engineering students interested in sensing,…
Minimum Competencies in Undergraduate Motor Development. Guidance Document
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 2004
2004-01-01
The minimum competency guidelines in Motor Development described herein at the undergraduate level may be gained in one or more motor development course(s) or through other courses provided in an undergraduate curriculum. The minimum guidelines include: (1) Formulation of a developmental perspective; (2) Knowledge of changes in motor behavior…
38 CFR 21.4267 - Approval of independent study.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... correspondence course. (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3676(e), 3680A(a)) (d) Undergraduate resident training. VA considers the following undergraduate courses to be resident training. (1) A course which meets the requirements... which is an integral part of a standard undergraduate college degree. (e) Graduate resident training. VA...
38 CFR 21.4267 - Approval of independent study.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-07-01
... correspondence course. (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3676(e), 3680A(a)) (d) Undergraduate resident training. VA considers the following undergraduate courses to be resident training. (1) A course which meets the requirements... which is an integral part of a standard undergraduate college degree. (e) Graduate resident training. VA...
38 CFR 21.4267 - Approval of independent study.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... correspondence course. (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3676(e), 3680A(a)) (d) Undergraduate resident training. VA considers the following undergraduate courses to be resident training. (1) A course which meets the requirements... which is an integral part of a standard undergraduate college degree. (e) Graduate resident training. VA...
Incorporating Primary Literature in Undergraduate Crop Science Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Scott, Lori K.; Simmons, Steve R.
2006-01-01
Primary literature is an underutilized learning resource for undergraduate courses in crop science. Reading assignments from scientific journals were utilized in an undergraduate University of Minnesota crop physiology course at Southwest Minnesota State University from 2002 to 2004. The subjects of the articles corresponded to the lecture topics.…
Weber, K. Scott; Jensen, Jamie L.; Johnson, Steven M.
2015-01-01
An important discussion at colleges is centered on determining more effective models for teaching undergraduates. As personalized genomics has become more common, we hypothesized it could be a valuable tool to make science education more hands on, personal, and engaging for college undergraduates. We hypothesized that providing students with personal genome testing kits would enhance the learning experience of students in two undergraduate courses at Brigham Young University: Advanced Molecular Biology and Genomics. These courses have an emphasis on personal genomics the last two weeks of the semester. Students taking these courses were given the option to receive personal genomics kits in 2014, whereas in 2015 they were not. Students sent their personal genomics samples in on their own and received the data after the course ended. We surveyed students in these courses before and after the two-week emphasis on personal genomics to collect data on whether anticipation of obtaining their own personal genomic data impacted undergraduate student learning. We also tested to see if specific personal genomic assignments improved the learning experience by analyzing the data from the undergraduate students who completed both the pre- and post-course surveys. Anticipation of personal genomic data significantly enhanced student interest and the learning environment based on the time students spent researching personal genomic material and their self-reported attitudes compared to those who did not anticipate getting their own data. Personal genomics homework assignments significantly enhanced the undergraduate student interest and learning based on the same criteria and a personal genomics quiz. We found that for the undergraduate students in both molecular biology and genomics courses, incorporation of personal genomic testing can be an effective educational tool in undergraduate science education. PMID:26241308
Weber, K Scott; Jensen, Jamie L; Johnson, Steven M
2015-01-01
An important discussion at colleges is centered on determining more effective models for teaching undergraduates. As personalized genomics has become more common, we hypothesized it could be a valuable tool to make science education more hands on, personal, and engaging for college undergraduates. We hypothesized that providing students with personal genome testing kits would enhance the learning experience of students in two undergraduate courses at Brigham Young University: Advanced Molecular Biology and Genomics. These courses have an emphasis on personal genomics the last two weeks of the semester. Students taking these courses were given the option to receive personal genomics kits in 2014, whereas in 2015 they were not. Students sent their personal genomics samples in on their own and received the data after the course ended. We surveyed students in these courses before and after the two-week emphasis on personal genomics to collect data on whether anticipation of obtaining their own personal genomic data impacted undergraduate student learning. We also tested to see if specific personal genomic assignments improved the learning experience by analyzing the data from the undergraduate students who completed both the pre- and post-course surveys. Anticipation of personal genomic data significantly enhanced student interest and the learning environment based on the time students spent researching personal genomic material and their self-reported attitudes compared to those who did not anticipate getting their own data. Personal genomics homework assignments significantly enhanced the undergraduate student interest and learning based on the same criteria and a personal genomics quiz. We found that for the undergraduate students in both molecular biology and genomics courses, incorporation of personal genomic testing can be an effective educational tool in undergraduate science education.
[Research-oriented experimental course of plant cell and gene engineering for undergraduates].
Xiaofei, Lin; Rong, Zheng; Morigen, Morigen
2015-04-01
Research-oriented comprehensive experimental course for undergraduates is an important part for their training of innovation. We established an optional course of plant cell and gene engineering for undergraduates using our research platform. The course is designed to study the cellular and molecular basis and experimental techniques for plant tissue culture, isolation and culture of protoplast, genetic transformation, and screening and identification of transgenic plants. To develop undergraduates' ability in experimental design and operation, and inspire their interest in scientific research and innovation consciousness, we integrated experimental teaching and practice in plant genetic engineering on the tissue, cellular, and molecular levels. Students in the course practiced an experimental teaching model featured by two-week teaching of principles, independent experimental design and bench work, and ready-to-access laboratory. In this paper, we describe the contents, methods, evaluation system and a few issues to be solved in this course, as well as the general application and significance of the research-oriented experimental course in reforming undergraduates' teaching and training innovative talents.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yin, Hongbiao; Wang, Wenlan
2015-01-01
Assessing and improving the quality of undergraduate teaching is an important issue in China. Using the Course Experience Questionnaire, this study examined the quality of undergraduate teaching by investigating the relationships between students' course experience, the learning outcomes demonstrated by the students and the learning environment.…
A Biochemistry of Human Disease Course for Undergraduate and Graduate Students.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Glew, Robert H.; VanderJagt, David L.
2001-01-01
Describes the experiences of a medical school faculty who have been offering for more than 10 years a two-course series in the biochemistry of human disease to undergraduate students majoring in biochemistry, biology, or chemistry. Recommends the teaching of specialized, advanced courses to undergraduate, pre-professional students. (DDR)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Friedel, Curtis R.; Kirland, Kelsey Church; Grimes, Matthew W.
2016-01-01
Principles of Peer Leadership is an undergraduate course developed through the collaboration of leadership educators with colleagues from residence life and fraternity/sorority life to provide instruction to undergraduate students serving in peer leadership positions across campus. The course comprises online and recitation components to connect…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mordacq, John C.; Drane, Denise L.; Swarat, Su L.; Lo, Stanley M.
2017-01-01
In recent years, commissions and reports have called for laboratory courses that engage undergraduates in authentic research experiences. We present an iterative approach for developing course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) that help students learn scientific inquiry skills and foster expert-like perceptions about biology. This…
An Exploration of the Characteristics of Effective Undergraduate Peer-Mentoring Relationships
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Douglass, April G.; Smith, Dennie L.; Smith, Lana J.
2013-01-01
In this article, we explored the effectiveness of peer mentoring of undergraduate education students enrolled in core curriculum, writing-intensive courses. The context for our study was the use of peer mentors in undergraduate education writing-intensive courses. Peer mentors who had previously taken the courses were selected and trained as…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wilson, Heather; Leydon, Joseph; Wincentak, Joanna
2017-01-01
This paper investigates the prevalence of fieldwork in undergraduate Geography programs in Canada. It examines the presence of fieldwork, provided through both field courses and courses that include fieldwork components, by reviewing program requirements and course offerings in undergraduate geography programs. The research explores the extent to…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brownell, Sara E.; Kloser, Matthew J.
2015-01-01
Recent calls for reform have advocated for extensive changes to undergraduate science lab experiences, namely providing more authentic research experiences for students. Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) have attempted to eschew the limitations of traditional "cookbook" laboratory exercises and have received…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jardine, Hannah E.; Friedman, Lee A.
2017-01-01
In this study, we describe a course to educate and prepare undergraduate "facilitators" for small group problem solving sessions in a large, first semester, introductory undergraduate organic chemistry course. We then explore the outcomes of the facilitator experience for one cohort of facilitators through qualitative analysis of written…
Toward a Singleton Undergraduate Computer Graphics Course in Small and Medium-Sized Colleges
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shesh, Amit
2013-01-01
This article discusses the evolution of a single undergraduate computer graphics course over five semesters, driven by a primary question: if one could offer only one undergraduate course in graphics, what would it include? This constraint is relevant to many small and medium-sized colleges that lack resources, adequate expertise, and enrollment…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tasich, C. M.; Duncan, L. L.; Duncan, B. R.; Burkhardt, B. L.; Benneyworth, L. M.
2015-12-01
Dual-listed courses will persist in higher education because of resource limitations. The pedagogical differences between undergraduate and graduate STEM student groups and the underlying distinction in intellectual development levels between the two student groups complicate the inclusion of undergraduates in these courses. Active learning techniques are a possible remedy to the hardships undergraduate students experience in graduate-level courses. Through an analysis of both undergraduate and graduate student experiences while enrolled in a dual-listed course, we implemented a variety of learning techniques used to complement the learning of both student groups and enhance deep discussion. Here, we provide details concerning the implementation of four active learning techniques - role play, game, debate, and small group - that were used to help undergraduate students critically discuss primary literature. Student perceptions were gauged through an anonymous, end-of-course evaluation that contained basic questions comparing the course to other courses at the university and other salient aspects of the course. These were given as a Likert scale on which students rated a variety of statements (1 = strongly disagree, 3 = no opinion, and 5 = strongly agree). Undergraduates found active learning techniques to be preferable to traditional techniques with small-group discussions being rated the highest in both enjoyment and enhanced learning. The graduate student discussion leaders also found active learning techniques to improve discussion. In hindsight, students of all cultures may be better able to take advantage of such approaches and to critically read and discuss primary literature when written assignments are used to guide their reading. Applications of active learning techniques can not only address the gap between differing levels of students, but also serve as a complement to student engagement in any science course design.
Using Presentation Software to Flip an Undergraduate Analytical Chemistry Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fitzgerald, Neil; Li, Luisa
2015-01-01
An undergraduate analytical chemistry course has been adapted to a flipped course format. Course content was provided by video clips, text, graphics, audio, and simple animations organized as concept maps using the cloud-based presentation platform, Prezi. The advantages of using Prezi to present course content in a flipped course format are…
Johnson, Bethany C.; Kiviniemi, Marc T.
2009-01-01
Assigned textbook readings are a common requirement in undergraduate courses, but students often do not complete reading assignments or do not do so until immediately before an exam. This may have detrimental effects on learning and course performance. Regularly scheduled quizzes on reading material may increase completion of reading assignments and therefore course performance. This study examined the effectiveness of compulsory, mastery-based, weekly reading quizzes as a means of improving exam and course performance. Completion of reading quizzes was related to both better exam and course performance. The discussion includes recommendations for the use of quizzes in undergraduate courses. PMID:20046908
Development of an advanced undergraduate course in acoustics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gee, Kent L.; Neilsen, Tracianne B.; Sommerfeldt, Scott D.
2016-03-01
Within many physics undergraduate programs, acoustics is given only a cursory treatment, usually within an introductory course. Because acoustics is a natural vehicle for students to develop intuition about wave phenomena, an advanced undergraduate acoustics course has been developed at Brigham Young University. Although it remains an elective course, enrollment has increased steadily since its inception. The course has been taken by students in physics, applied physics, physics teaching, and mechanical and electrical engineering. In addition to providing training for students motivated by interest in undergraduate research, internship, employment, and graduate schooling opportunities in acoustics, the course facilitates connections between various areas of physics. Explicit connections are made to mechanics, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics, optics, quantum mechanics, and experimental and computational laboratory courses. Active learning is emphasized through Just-in-Time-Teaching and course structure. Homework exercises are both theoretical and practical and often require making and interpreting of graphs. For example, students may model traffic noise as a series of uncorrelated monopoles or examine highway barrier effectiveness using Fresnel diffraction techniques. Additionally, students participate in resumé-building measurements and learn to report their results in the form of technical memoranda. Course evaluations and post-graduation student surveys rate it among the most valuable undergraduate student courses offered.
Balster, Nicholas; Pfund, Christine; Rediske, Raelyn; Branchaw, Janet
2010-01-01
Undergraduate research experiences have been shown to enhance the educational experience and retention of college students, especially those from underrepresented populations. However, many challenges still exist relative to building community among students navigating large institutions. We developed a novel course called Entering Research that creates a learning community to support beginning undergraduate researchers and is designed to parallel the Entering Mentoring course for graduate students, postdocs, and faculty serving as mentors of undergraduate researchers. The course serves as a model that can be easily adapted for use across the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines using a readily available facilitator's manual. Course evaluations and rigorous assessment show that the Entering Research course helps students in many ways, including finding a mentor, understanding their place in a research community, and connecting their research to their course work in the biological and physical sciences. Students in the course reported statistically significant gains in their skills, knowledge, and confidence as researchers compared with a control group of students, who also were engaged in undergraduate research but not enrolled in this course. In addition, the faculty and staff members who served as facilitators of the Entering Research course described their experience as rewarding and one they would recommend to their colleagues.
Abu-Odeh, Desiree; Dziobek, Derek; Jimenez, Nathalia Torres; Barbey, Christopher; Dubinsky, Janet M
2015-01-01
The growing neuroscientific understanding of the biological basis of behaviors has profound social and ethical implications. To address the need for public awareness of the consequences of these advances, we developed an undergraduate neuroethics course, Neuroscience and Society, at the University of Minnesota. Course evolution, objectives, content, and impact are described here. To engage all students and facilitate undergraduate ethics education, this course employed daily reading, writing, and student discussion, case analysis, and team presentations with goals of fostering development of moral reasoning and judgment and introducing application of bioethical frameworks to topics raised by neuroscience. Pre- and post-course Defining Issues Test (DIT) scores and student end-of-course reflections demonstrated that course objectives for student application of bioethical frameworks to neuroethical issues were met. The active-learning, student-centered pedagogical approaches used to achieve these goals serve as a model for how to effectively teach neuroethics at the undergraduate level. PMID:25838802
Brownell, Sara E; Price, Jordan V; Steinman, Lawrence
2013-03-01
Most scientists agree that comprehension of primary scientific papers and communication of scientific concepts are two of the most important skills that we can teach, but few undergraduate biology courses make these explicit course goals. We designed an undergraduate neuroimmunology course that uses a writing-intensive format. Using a mixture of primary literature, writing assignments directed toward a layperson and scientist audience, and in-class discussions, we aimed to improve the ability of students to 1) comprehend primary scientific papers, 2) communicate science to a scientific audience, and 3) communicate science to a layperson audience. We offered the course for three consecutive years and evaluated its impact on student perception and confidence using a combination of pre- and postcourse survey questions and coded open-ended responses. Students showed gains in both the perception of their understanding of primary scientific papers and of their abilities to communicate science to scientific and layperson audiences. These results indicate that this unique format can teach both communication skills and basic science to undergraduate biology students. We urge others to adopt a similar format for undergraduate biology courses to teach process skills in addition to content, thus broadening and strengthening the impact of undergraduate courses.
A distance education in undergraduate dietetic education.
Benton-King, Carrie; Webb, Derek F; Holmes, ZoeAnn
2005-01-01
Distance education is an exploding phenomenon that allows people to pursue higher education on their own time, at a pace that meets their needs, in locations where there are no colleges and universities, or where there is not a desired program of study. This study examined the use of distance education in undergraduate dietetic education programs and the opportunities for obtaining an undergraduate degree in dietetics solely via distance education. A survey was sent to all directors (n = 279) of undergraduate programs accredited/approved by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education to determine the current status and projected future use of distance education in their institutions' on-campus programs. The survey had a 54% response rate. Approximately 32% (n = 150) of undergraduate dietetics programs offer distance education courses in some format. Institutions that offer nondietetics distance education courses were more likely to offer dietetics distance education courses. The most common distance education format utilized in dietetics was 100% Internet courses (48%). The most common distance education dietetics course offered was a basic or introductory nutrition course (31%). From the data of courses offered, or permitted to be transferred, it would not be possible for a student to complete an undergraduate degree in dietetics solely via distance education methodologies at the time this study was conducted.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Buxner, Sanlyn; Impey, Chris David; Formanek, Martin; Wenger, Matthew
2018-01-01
Introductory astronomy courses are exciting opportunities to engage non-major students in scientific issues, new discoveries, and scientific thinking. Many undergraduate students take these courses to complete their general education requirements. Many free-choice learners also take these courses, but for their own interest. We report on a study comparing the basic science knowledge, interest in science, and information literacy of undergraduate students and free choice learners enrolled in introductory astronomy courses run by the University of Arizona. Undergraduate students take both in-person and online courses for college credit. Free choice learners enroll in massive open online courses (MOOCs), through commercial platforms, that can earn them a certificate (although most do not take advantage of that opportunity). In general, we find that undergraduate students outperform the general public on basic science knowledge and that learners in our astronomy MOOCs outperform the undergraduate students in the study. Learners in the MOOC have higher interest in science in general. Overall, learners in both groups report getting information about science from online sources. Additionally, learners’ judgement of the reliability of different sources of information is weakly related to their basic science knowledge and more strongly related to how they describe what it means to study something scientifically. We discuss the implications of our findings for both undergraduate students and free-choice learners as well as instructors of these types of courses.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gordon, Jessica
2016-01-01
This quantitative content analysis examines the way social presence was created through original posts and comments in a Facebook group for an undergraduate writing course. The author adapted a well-known coding template and examined how course members--one instructor, two undergraduate teaching assistants and twenty-two students--used language…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Abolins, Mark
2014-01-01
Undergraduates learned to measure, map, and interpret bedding plane attitudes during a semesterlong geology field methods course in a field area where strata dip less than 98. Despite the low dip of the strata, 2011 field course students discovered a half-kilometer-wide structural basin by using digital levels and Brunton pocket transits to…
How Do Students' Accounts of Sociology Change over the Course of Their Undergraduate Degrees?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ashwin, Paul; Abbas, Andrea; McLean, Monica
2014-01-01
In this article we examine how students' accounts of the discipline of sociology change over the course of their undergraduate degrees. Based on a phenomenographic analysis of 86 interviews with 32 sociology and criminology students over the course of their undergraduate degrees, we constituted five different ways of accounting for sociology.…
A Comparison of Student Confidence Levels in Open Access and Undergraduate University Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Atherton, Mirella
2017-01-01
Confidence levels of students enrolled in open access programs and undergraduate courses were measured at the University of Newcastle. The open access science students aimed to gain access to undergraduate studies in various disciplines at University. The undergraduate students were enrolled in a variety of degrees and were surveyed during their…
Teaching Undergraduates to Think Like Scientists
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Caccavo, Frank, Jr.
2009-01-01
The author discusses the importance of incorporating research into undergraduate curricula. Pedagogical approaches include faculty-directed research projects, off-campus internships, and research-oriented courses (R-courses). Examples of R-courses are reviewed, and an introductory microbiology course that teaches first year students "how to do…
Undergraduate homeopathy education in Europe and the influence of accreditation.
Viksveen, Petter; Steinsbekk, Aslak
2011-10-01
The safety of patients consulting with practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) partially depends on practitioners' competence, and thus the standard of undergraduate education. Describe undergraduate homeopathy courses in Europe, student/graduate numbers and whether there were differences between recognised/accredited and non-recognised/non-accredited courses. Cross sectional survey of current homeopathy undergraduate education in Europe in 2008. Data from 145 (94.8%) out of 153 identified courses were collected. Eighty-five (55.6%) responded to a questionnaire survey. For others some data was extracted from their websites. Only data from the questionnaire survey is used for the main analysis. The average course in the questionnaire survey had 47 enrolled students and 142 graduates, and lasted 3.6 years part-time. An estimated 6500 students were enrolled and 21,000 had graduated from 153 identified European undergraduate homeopathy courses. Out of 85 courses most had entry requirements and provided medical education (N = 48) or required students to obtain this competence elsewhere (N = 33). The average number of teaching hours were 992 (95% confidence interval (CI) 814, 1170) overall, with 555 h (95%CI 496, 615) for homeopathy. Four out of five courses were recognised/accredited. Recognised/accredited part-time courses lasted significantly longer than non-recognised/non-accredited courses (difference 0.6 years, 95%CI 0.0-1.2, P = 0.040), and offered significantly larger numbers of teaching hours in homeopathy (difference 167 h, 95%CI 7-327, P = 0.041). About 6500 currently enrolled students are doing undergraduate homeopathy education in Europe and 21,000 have graduated from such courses over a period of about 30 years. Undergraduate homeopathy education in Europe is heterogeneous. Recognised/accredited courses are more extensive with more teaching hours. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kuruganti, Usha
2014-01-01
As part of the undergraduate curriculum, the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) requires all students to take an undergraduate course in physical activity, health and wellness in their third year of study. This capstone course allows students to integrate concepts from their program regarding physical activity,…
Undergraduate basic science preparation for dental school.
Humphrey, Sue P; Mathews, Robert E; Kaplan, Alan L; Beeman, Cynthia S
2002-11-01
In the Institute of Medicines report Dental Education at the Crossroads, it was suggested that dental schools across the country move toward integrated basic science education for dental and medical students in their curricula. To do so, dental school admission requirements and recommendations must be closely reviewed to ensure that students are adequately prepared for this coursework. The purpose of our study was twofold: 1) to identify student dentists' perceptions of their predental preparation as it relates to course content, and 2) to track student dentists' undergraduate basic science course preparation and relate that to DAT performance, basic science course performance in dental school, and Part I and Part II National Board performance. In the first part of the research, a total of ninety student dentists (forty-five from each class) from the entering classes of 1996 and 1997 were asked to respond to a survey. The survey instrument was distributed to each class of students after each completed the largest basic science class given in their second-year curriculum. The survey investigated the area of undergraduate major, a checklist of courses completed in their undergraduate preparation, the relevance of the undergraduate classes to the block basic science courses, and the strength of requiring or recommending the listed undergraduate courses as a part of admission to dental school. Results of the survey, using frequency analysis, indicate that students felt that the following classes should be required, not recommended, for admission to dental school: Microbiology 70 percent, Biochemistry 54.4 percent, Immunology 57.78 percent, Anatomy 50 percent, Physiology 58.89 percent, and Cell Biology 50 percent. The second part of the research involved anonymously tracking undergraduate basic science preparation of the same students with DAT scores, the grade received in a representative large basic science course, and Part I and Part II National Board performance. Using T-test analysis correlations, results indicate that having completed multiple undergraduate basic science courses (as reported by AADSAS BCP hours) did not significantly (p < .05) enhance student performance in any of these parameters. Based on these results, we conclude that student dentists with undergraduate preparation in science and nonscience majors can successfully negotiate the dental school curriculum, even though the students themselves would increase admission requirements to include more basic science courses than commonly required. Basically, the students' recommendations for required undergraduate basic science courses would replicate the standard basic science coursework found in most dental schools: anatomy, histology, biochemistry, microbiology, physiology, and immunology plus the universal foundation course of biology.
Faculty Views on the Appropriateness of Teaching Undergraduate Psychology Courses Online
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mandernach, B. Jean; Mason, Teresa; Forrest, Krista D.; Hackathorn, Jana
2012-01-01
This study examines faculty views concerning the appropriateness of teaching specific undergraduate psychology courses in an online format. Faculty express concern about teaching methodology and counseling/clinical content courses online, but endorse teaching introductory and nonclinical content courses in either format; faculty report diverse…
A New Program to Teach Nuclear and Radiochemistry to Undergraduates.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Catchen, Gary L.; Canelos, James
1988-01-01
Follows the development of a course in nuclear and radiochemistry at Penn State. Lists specific nuclear science topics covered in the undergraduate level course. Describes audio-visual materials that have been developed for the course and includes a survey of students taking the course. (ML)
Developing an undergraduate geography course on digital image processing of remotely sensed data
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Baumann, P. R.
1981-01-01
Problems relating to the development of a digital image processing course in an undergraduate geography environment is discussed. Computer resource requirements, course prerequisites, and the size of the study area are addressed.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Doukakis, Spyros; Koilias, Christos; Chionidou-Moskofoglou, Maria
During the 2008-2009 spring semester, 25 fourth-year undergraduate primary teachers attended the compulsory course "Teaching Mathematics-Practicum Phase". The course was organised so as to incorporate ICT and special mathematical scenarios in the teaching approaches of undergraduate primary teachers. This article presents course satisfaction of participants as found in the research study. A set of powerful ordinal regression methods has been applied on a survey database. The most important results focus on the determination of the course's weak and strong points, according to the MUSA methodology. The results show a high satisfaction level from the course. The global satisfaction level reaches 98% whereas partial (per criterion) satisfaction levels range from 90% to 97%, the lowest rate corresponding to the theoretical component of the course. The findings raise a number of research questions regarding ICT integration in undergraduate primary teachers' teaching practice.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wiechowski, Linda S.
2010-01-01
Capstone courses provide an opportunity to integrate several topics and to help prepare students for the real world. This paper examines the process of developing an undergraduate finance capstone course for both onground (face-to-face) and online course delivery. The process begins with the determination of the core competencies employers require…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Journal of Chemical Education, 1985
1985-01-01
Demonstrates, with a set of definitive examples, how polymer principles can be introduced into the first undergraduate physical chemistry course in a very natural way. The intent is to encourage introduction of polymer-related material into conventional physical chemistry courses without sacrificing any rigor associated with such courses. (JN)
Three S's of Undergraduate Course Architecture: Compatibilities of Setting, Style and Structure
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Robertson, Patricia R.; Wakeling, Victor
2018-01-01
Three separate baseline decisions are recommended when designing an undergraduate course prior to considering any course content. The "Three S" course design decisions include determining (1) the "setting" (on-campus, online or hybrid), (2) the learning "style" (passive or active), and (3) the learning…
Undergraduate Psychology Courses Preferred by Graduate Programs
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lawson, Timothy J.; Reisinger, Debra L.; Jordan-Fleming, Mary Kay
2012-01-01
Information about the undergraduate psychology courses preferred by graduate programs is useful for a number of purposes, including (a) advising psychology majors who are interested in graduate school, (b) undergraduate curriculum planning, and (c) examining whether graduate programs' preferences reflect national guidelines for the undergraduate…
Teaching undergraduate biomechanics with Just-in-Time Teaching.
Riskowski, Jody L
2015-06-01
Biomechanics education is a vital component of kinesiology, sports medicine, and physical education, as well as for many biomedical engineering and bioengineering undergraduate programmes. Little research exists regarding effective teaching strategies for biomechanics. However, prior work suggests that student learning in undergraduate physics courses has been aided by using the Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT). As physics understanding plays a role in biomechanics understanding, the purpose of study was to evaluate the use of a JiTT framework in an undergraduate biomechanics course. This two-year action-based research study evaluated three JiTT frameworks: (1) no JiTT; (2) mathematics-based JiTT; and (3) concept-based JiTT. A pre- and post-course assessment of student learning used the biomechanics concept inventory and a biomechanics concept map. A general linear model assessed differences between the course assessments by JiTT framework in order to evaluate learning and teaching effectiveness. The results indicated significantly higher learning gains and better conceptual understanding in a concept-based JiTT course, relative to a mathematics-based JiTT or no JiTT course structure. These results suggest that a course structure involving concept-based questions using a JiTT strategy may be an effective method for engaging undergraduate students and promoting learning in biomechanics courses.
Development, Implementation, and Assessment of a Lecture Course on Cancer for Undergraduates
Peterson, Karen
2009-01-01
The war on cancer has been waged for nearly 40 years, yet the cancer burden remains high, especially among minority and underserved populations. One strategy to make strides in the war on cancer and its disparate impacts is to increase the diversity of the cancer research workforce. We describe an approach to recruit a diverse population of future cancer researchers from an undergraduate student population at a minority-serving land-grant institution. Specifically, we have addressed the following questions: Given the dearth of published reports of undergraduate cancer courses, is it possible for undergraduates at a land-grant institution (rather than a research or medical institution) to successfully learn cancer biology from a lecture-based course? Can we develop a template that has the potential to be used by others to develop and implement an undergraduate cancer course? Can such a course stimulate interest in careers in cancer research? Based on a learning gains analysis, students were able to learn cancer content and related skills, and based on student surveys, students' interest in cancer research was stimulated by course participation. We have identified aspects of our course development process that were critical for the successful development, implementation, and assessment of the course. PMID:19723814
Brain literate: making neuroscience accessible to a wider audience of undergraduates.
Salomon, Danielle; Martin-Harris, Laurel; Mullen, Brian; Odegaard, Brian; Zvinyatskovskiy, Aleksey; Chandler, Scott H
2015-01-01
The ability to critically evaluate neuroscientific findings is a skill that is rapidly becoming important in non-science professions. As neuroscience research is increasingly being used in law, business, education, and politics, it becomes imperative to educate future leaders in all areas of society about the brain. Undergraduate general education courses are an ideal way to expose students to issues of critical importance, but non-science students may avoid taking a neuroscience course because of the perception that neuroscience is more challenging than other science courses. A recently developed general education cluster course at UCLA aims to make neuroscience more palatable to undergraduates by pairing neuroscientific concepts with philosophy and history, and by building a learning community that supports the development of core academic skills and intellectual growth over the course of a year. This study examined the extent to which the course was successful in delivering neuroscience education to a broader undergraduate community. The results indicate that a majority of students in the course mastered the basics of the discipline regardless of their major. Furthermore, 77% of the non-life science majors (approximately two-thirds of students in the course) indicated that they would not have taken an undergraduate neuroscience course if this one was not offered. The findings also demonstrate that the course helped students develop core academic skills and improved their ability to think critically about current events in neuroscience. Faculty reported that teaching the course was highly rewarding and did not require an inordinate amount of time.
A CAL-Based Undergraduate Genetics Course.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Garbutt, K.; And Others
1979-01-01
Describes a second-year undergraduate practical course in quantitative genetics and biometrics, based upon computer-assisted learning (CAL); and discusses the educational benefits of the course, some problems encountered, and some implications of the extensive use of CAL. (Author/CMV)
Developing Students, Developing Faculty: Incompatible or Compatible Goals?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ware, Mark E.; Davis, Stephen F.; Smith, Randolph A.
Grounding students in research methodology is at the core of the undergraduate curriculum. Students usually conduct individual projects in the experimental psychology or research methods courses, and most undergraduate courses in the psychology curriculum contain a strong research component. The opportunities and benefits for undergraduate student…
Alternative Methods for Teaching Chemical Information to Undergraduates.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lee, Wade M.; Wiggins, Gary
1997-01-01
Discusses whether to provide library instruction for undergraduate chemistry majors as a separate class or integrated into courses, particularly for those who receive a degree certified by the American Chemical Society. The authors suggest that a librarian coordinate course-integrated instruction throughout the undergraduate curriculum. (LRW)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bas, Asli Uz
2016-01-01
The purpose of this study was to assess the "Positive Psychology" course according to comments and life satisfaction levels of counselor candidates. The course was offered in Guidance and Psychological Counseling undergraduate program as an elective course. The participants of the study were 56 senior undergraduate students attended…
Modeling Community Engagement in an Undergraduate Course in Psychology at an HBCU
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Henderson, Dawn X.
2017-01-01
This article describes an undergraduate course in community psychology at an Historically Black University. The course integrated community engagement using a local neighborhood revitalization project as a platform for students to volunteer, prepare a historical analysis, and sense of community project. The course aims to fulfill a requirement…
Use of Concept Mapping in an Undergraduate Introductory Exercise Physiology Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Henige, Kim
2012-01-01
Physiology is often considered a challenging course for students. It is up to teachers to structure courses and create learning opportunities that will increase the chance of student success. In an undergraduate exercise physiology course, concept maps are assigned to help students actively process and organize information into manageable and…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sherman, Peter S.
2006-01-01
Universities are continually adding entrepreneurship courses to their curriculum. Duhaime and Hitt (2000) found 82% of schools offered entrepreneurship courses at the undergraduate level and 69% of masters programs had offerings in entrepreneurship. A much smaller number of programs offer courses that require that the students actually start the…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Blau, Gary; Pred, Robert; Drennan, Rob B., Jr.; Kapanjie, Darin
2016-01-01
An online survey tested the association among background, technological, and course-related variables with perceived favorability of online courses for two independent samples of fall 2015 and spring 2016 business undergraduates taking at least one online or hybrid course. Results showed that perceived learning was a consistent positive correlate…
Can One Undergraduate Course Increase Cross-Cultural Competence?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Spitzer, Lois
2015-01-01
The majority of students who took this general education undergraduate course in developing cross-cultural understanding at a state college in the northeastern United States reported that their level of cross-cultural competence and global awareness increased by the end of the course. The primary course objective was to help students better…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sethy, Satya Sundar
2017-01-01
"Professional Ethics" has been offered as a compulsory course to undergraduate engineering students in a premier engineering institution of India. It was noticed that students' perceptions and attitudes were frivolous and ornamental towards this course. Course instructors and institution authorities were motivated to find out the factors…
Current Status of Undergraduate, Nonprofessional Pharmacology Courses Taught in Colleges of Pharmacy
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gerald, Michael C.
1976-01-01
Of the 57 colleges of pharmacy surveyed, 33 are currently offering a total of 44 elective, undergraduate, nonprofessional pharmacology courses, and seven contemplate initiating such courses by 1977. The courses generally cover three areas: social and legal aspects of drug usage and nonprescription consumerism; pharmacology of the drugs of abuse;…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Corwin, Lisa A.; Runyon, Christopher; Robinson, Aspen; Dolan, Erin L.
2015-01-01
Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are increasingly being offered as scalable ways to involve undergraduates in research. Yet few if any design features that make CUREs effective have been identified. We developed a 17-item survey instrument, the Laboratory Course Assessment Survey (LCAS), that measures students' perceptions…
Student Perceptions on Live-Case Projects: Undergraduate Marketing Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gundala, Raghava Rao; Singh, Mandeep; Baldwin, Andrew
2014-01-01
This paper is an investigation into undergraduate students' perceptions on use of live projects as a teaching pedagogy in marketing research courses. Students in undergraduate marketing research courses from fall 2009 to spring 2013 completed an online questionnaire consisting of 17 items. The results suggested that student understanding of…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shaw, Lawton; Kennepohl, Dietmar
2013-01-01
Senior undergraduate research projects are important components of most undergraduate science degrees. The delivery of such projects in a distance education format is challenging. Athabasca University (AU) science project courses allow distance education students to complete research project courses by working with research supervisors in their…
Undergraduate Medical Academic Performance is Improved by Scientific Training
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zhang, Lili; Zhang, Wei; Wu, Chong; Liu, Zhongming; Cai, Yunfei; Cao, Xingguo; He, Yushan; Liu, Guoxiang; Miao, Hongming
2017-01-01
The effect of scientific training on course learning in undergraduates is still controversial. In this study, we investigated the academic performance of undergraduate students with and without scientific training. The results show that scientific training improves students' test scores in general medical courses, such as biochemistry and…
Incorporating Applied Undergraduate Research in Senior to Graduate Level Remote Sensing Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Henley, Richard B.; Unger, Daniel R.; Kulhavy, David L.; Hung, I-Kuai
2016-01-01
An Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture (ATCOFA) senior spatial science undergraduate student engaged in a multi-course undergraduate research project to expand his expertise in remote sensing and assess the applied instruction methodology employed within ATCOFA. The project consisted of performing a change detection…
Enhancing the Undergraduate Computing Experience in Chemical Engineering CACHE Corporation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Edgar, Thomas F.
2006-01-01
This white paper focuses on the integration and enhancement of the computing experience for undergraduates throughout the chemical engineering curriculum. The computing experience for undergraduates in chemical engineering should have continuity and be coordinated from course to course, because a single software solution is difficult to achieve in…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bowyer, Jessica; Darlington, Ellie
2017-01-01
It is essential that physics undergraduates are appropriately prepared for the mathematical demands of their course. This study investigated physics students' perceptions of post-compulsory mathematics as preparation for their degree course. 494 physics undergraduates responded to an online questionnaire about their experiences of A-level…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brandriss, Mark E.
2010-01-01
This article describes ways to incorporate high-precision measurements of the specific gravities of minerals into undergraduate courses in mineralogy and physical geology. Most traditional undergraduate laboratory methods of measuring specific gravity are suitable only for unusually large samples, which severely limits their usefulness for student…
Preservice Teachers' Views of Instructor Presence in Online Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hodges, Charles B.; Cowan, S. Forrest
2012-01-01
The researchers conducted this study to investigate undergraduate preservice teacher candidates' perceptions regarding variables related to instructor presence in online courses. Participants included 52 undergraduate education students enrolled in 100% online technology integration courses at a doctoral research university in the southeastern…
38 CFR 21.5870 - Measurement of courses.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-07-01
... (CONTINUED) VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION AND EDUCATION Educational Assistance Test Program Measurement of Courses § 21.5870 Measurement of courses. (a) Credit hour measurement: undergraduate, standard term. An individual who enrolls in a standard quarter or semester for 12 undergraduate credit hours is a full-time...
38 CFR 21.5870 - Measurement of courses.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-07-01
... (CONTINUED) VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION AND EDUCATION Educational Assistance Test Program Measurement of Courses § 21.5870 Measurement of courses. (a) Credit hour measurement: undergraduate, standard term. An individual who enrolls in a standard quarter or semester for 12 undergraduate credit hours is a full-time...
38 CFR 21.5870 - Measurement of courses.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... (CONTINUED) VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION AND EDUCATION Educational Assistance Test Program Measurement of Courses § 21.5870 Measurement of courses. (a) Credit hour measurement: undergraduate, standard term. An individual who enrolls in a standard quarter or semester for 12 undergraduate credit hours is a full-time...
38 CFR 21.5870 - Measurement of courses.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... (CONTINUED) VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION AND EDUCATION Educational Assistance Test Program Measurement of Courses § 21.5870 Measurement of courses. (a) Credit hour measurement: undergraduate, standard term. An individual who enrolls in a standard quarter or semester for 12 undergraduate credit hours is a full-time...
The Rhetoric of Campus Architecture
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Smith, Cynthia Duquette
2016-01-01
The group activity described in this article was originally designed for an upper-division undergraduate course on Rhetoric and Architecture, but would also be well suited for courses in Persuasion, Rhetorical Criticism, or Visual Rhetoric. Any undergraduate course related to communication and design (including Advertising) could make excellent…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bruno, Paul A.; Love Green, Jennifer K.; Illerbrun, Sara L.; Holness, Duncan A.; Illerbrun, Samantha J.; Haus, Kara A.; Poirier, Sylvianne M.; Sveinson, Katherine L.
2016-01-01
The educational literature generally suggests that supplemental instruction (SI) is effective in improving academic performance in traditionally difficult courses. A pilot program of peer teaching based on the SI model was implemented for an undergraduate course in human anatomy. Students in the course were stratified into three groups based on…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Blau, Gary; Drennan, Rob B.; Hochner, Arthur; Kapanjie, Darin
2016-01-01
An online survey tested the impact of background, technological, and course-related variables on perceived learning and timely graduation for a complete data sample of 263 business undergraduates taking at least one online or hybrid course in the fall of 2015. Hierarchical regression results showed that course-related variables (instructor…
A Structured Approach to Honours Undergraduate Research Course, Evaluation Rubrics and Assessment
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Khoukhi, Amar
2013-01-01
This paper presents a new approach to the Honours Undergraduate Research Course design and implementation. The course design process, assessment and evaluation rubrics are provided. Lessons learned and the experience of the faced challenges and opportunities for two cohort offerings of the course during the winter terms of 2011 and 2012 are…
Factors Contributing to the Success of Undergraduate Business Students in Management Science Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brookshire, Robert G.; Palocsay, Susan W.
2005-01-01
The introductory management science (MS) course has historically been recognized as one of the most difficult core courses in the business school curriculum. This study uses multiple regression to examine the factors that contribute to the success of undergraduate business students in an MS course, based on data gathered from the college…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fong, Shirley S. M.; Chu, Samuel K. W.; Lau, Wilfred W.F.; Doherty, Iain; Hew, K. F.
2017-01-01
Aim/Purpose: To investigate the effectiveness of incorporating wiki technology in an undergraduate biostatistics course for improving university students' collaborative learning, approaches to learning, and course performance. Methodology: During a three year longitudinal study, twenty-one and twenty-four undergraduate students were recruited by…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gerald, Michael C.
1989-01-01
A study assessed and compared the current status of undergraduate, nonprofessional pharmacology courses as taught in the U. S. and Canadian colleges of pharmacy and medicine; courses offered by veterinary medicine are also noted. Pharmacy courses seek to increase general drug knowledge and promote rational drug use. (Author/MLW)
The Design and Implementation of a Career Orientation Course for Undergraduate Majors
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Freeman, Edward
2012-01-01
Over the past several years I have taught a career orientation course at St. John Fisher College. This course was designed to increase student awareness of potential careers following their undergraduate studies in our Biology program. Additionally, the course has also been used as a model for similar experiences in our Psychology, Chemistry,…
Undergraduate Entrepreneurial Finance Course: Some Curriculum and Pedagogical Perspectives
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Thapa, Samanta; Chan, Kam C.
2013-01-01
Using online survey, we document the opinions of finance professors as to what should be the core content of undergraduate entrepreneurial finance course and the approach to be taken to teach this course. On the core content of the course, the top five topics preferred by the respondents were: Identifying business opportunities and examining their…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shinaberger, Lee
2017-01-01
An instructor transformed an undergraduate business statistics course over 10 semesters from a traditional lecture course to a flipped classroom course. The researcher used a linear mixed model to explore the effectiveness of the evolution on student success as measured by exam performance. The results provide guidance to successfully implement a…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Journal of Teaching in the Addictions, 2003
2003-01-01
Presents sample undergraduate syllabi for seven addiction counseling courses. Courses include: Group Interventions in Substance Abuse and Addiction; Recovery and Relapse Prevention Methods; Group Counseling I and II; and Co-Occurring Disorders. (GCP)
Undergraduate medical academic performance is improved by scientific training.
Zhang, Lili; Zhang, Wei; Wu, Chong; Liu, Zhongming; Cai, Yunfei; Cao, Xingguo; He, Yushan; Liu, Guoxiang; Miao, Hongming
2017-09-01
The effect of scientific training on course learning in undergraduates is still controversial. In this study, we investigated the academic performance of undergraduate students with and without scientific training. The results show that scientific training improves students' test scores in general medical courses, such as biochemistry and molecular biology, cell biology, physiology, and even English. We classified scientific training into four levels. We found that literature reading could significantly improve students' test scores in general courses. Students who received scientific training carried out experiments more effectively and published articles performed better than their untrained counterparts in biochemistry and molecular biology examinations. The questionnaire survey demonstrated that the trained students were more confident of their course learning, and displayed more interest, motivation and capability in course learning. In summary, undergraduate academic performance is improved by scientific training. Our findings shed light on the novel strategies in the management of undergraduate education in the medical school. © 2017 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 45(5):379-384, 2017. © 2017 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Testing Effect and Complex Comprehension in a Large Introductory Undergraduate Biology Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pagliarulo, Christopher L.
2011-01-01
Traditional undergraduate biology courses are content intensive, requiring students to understand and remember large amounts of information in short periods of time. Yet most students maintain little of the material encountered during their education. Poor knowledge retention is a main cause of academic failure and high undergraduate attrition…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Baker, Lisa R.; Hitchcock, Laurel Iverson
2017-01-01
This article describes the development, implementation, and assessment of a social media assignment using Pinterest as a tool for student engagement and professional development in two undergraduate social work courses. Twenty-one undergraduate students enrolled in Human Behavior and the Social Environment (HBSE) courses completed the assignment…
Design and Implementation of an Undergraduate Laboratory Course in Psychophysiology
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Thibodeau, Ryan
2011-01-01
Most psychology curricula require the completion of coursework on the physiological bases of behavior. However, delivery of this critical content in a laboratory format is somewhat rare at the undergraduate level. To fill this gap, this article describes the design and implementation of an undergraduate laboratory course in psychophysiology at a…
A Combination Course and Lab-Based Approach to Teaching Research Skills to Undergraduates
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Danowitz, Amy M.; Brown, Ronald C.; Jones, Clinton D.; Diegelman-Parente, Amy; Taylor, Christopher E.
2016-01-01
Undergraduate research is an important capstone experience that provides students with the conceptual and technical aptitude for graduate or industrial research. However, this experience is often compressed into a single term in a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) or run by individual faculty members for select students on an…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Frank, Jonathan; Shaw, Lewis; Wilson, Elizabeth
2009-01-01
This study examines undergraduate business students' use of PowerPoint slides provided as a supplement to class attendance, textbook reading, and other traditional course resources. We survey students in 4 diverse (accounting, marketing, management, and information systems) lower-level undergraduate courses in which the instructor provided…
Supporting Upper-Level Undergraduate Students in Building a Systems Perspective in a Botany Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zangori, Laura; Koontz, Jason A.
2017-01-01
Undergraduate biology majors require biological literacy about the critical and dynamic relationships between plants and ecosystems and the effect human-made processes have on these systems. To support students in understanding systems relationships, we redesigned an undergraduate botany course using an ecological framework and embedded systems…
Team-Designed Improvement of Writing and Critical Thinking in Large Undergraduate Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bernstein, Daniel; Greenhoot, Andrea Follmer
2014-01-01
Helping students achieve advanced critical thinking and writing skills in large undergraduate classes is a challenge faced by many university faculty members. We addressed this challenge in a three-year project using team course design, built around a cognitive apprenticeship model, to enhance undergraduates' writing, critical thinking, and…
The Demand for Undergraduate Course Provision in Information and Library Studies.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marcella, Rita; Baxter, Graeme
2001-01-01
Describes two studies that investigated factors affecting the demands for undergraduate courses in information and library studies: one a survey of students at The Robert Gordon University (Scotland) and one a survey of secondary school students in Scotland. Concludes that the profession should focus on undergraduate education and make career…
Effect of a "Look-Ahead" Problem on Undergraduate Engineering Students' Concept Comprehension
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goodman, Kevin; Davis, Julian; McDonald, Thomas
2016-01-01
In an effort to motivate undergraduate engineering students to prepare for class by reviewing material before lectures, a "Look-Ahead" problem was utilized. Students from two undergraduate engineering courses; Statics and Electronic Circuits, were assigned problems from course material that had not yet been covered in class. These…
Undergraduate study in psychology: Curriculum and assessment.
Norcross, John C; Hailstorks, Robin; Aiken, Leona S; Pfund, Rory A; Stamm, Karen E; Christidis, Peggy
2016-01-01
The undergraduate curriculum in psychology profoundly reflects and shapes the discipline. Yet, reliable information on the undergraduate psychology curriculum has been difficult to acquire due to insufficient research carried out on unrepresentative program samples with disparate methods. In 2014, APA launched the first systematic effort in a decade to gather national data on the psychology major and program outcomes. We surveyed a stratified random sample of department chairs/coordinators of accredited colleges and universities in the United States that offer undergraduate courses and programs in psychology. A total of 439 undergraduate psychology programs (45.2%) completed the survey. This article summarizes, for both associate and baccalaureate programs, the results of the Undergraduate Study in Psychology. Current practices concerning the introductory course, the courses offered, core requirements, the psychology minor, and tracks/concentrations are presented. The frequency of formal program reviews and program-level assessment methods are also addressed. By extending prior research on the undergraduate curriculum, we chronicle longitudinal changes in the psychology major over the past 20 years. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
Wang, Jack T H
2017-08-15
Inquiry-driven learning, research internships and course-based undergraduate research experiences all represent mechanisms through which educators can engage undergraduate students in scientific research. In life sciences education, the benefits of undergraduate research have been thoroughly evaluated, but limitations in infrastructure and training can prevent widespread uptake of these practices. It is not clear how faculty members can integrate complex laboratory techniques and equipment into their unique context, while finding the time and resources to implement undergraduate research according to best practice guidelines. This review will go through the trends and patterns in inquiry-based undergraduate life science projects with particular emphasis on molecular biosciences-the research-aligned disciplines of biochemistry, molecular cell biology, microbiology, and genomics and bioinformatics. This will provide instructors with an overview of the model organisms, laboratory techniques and research questions that are adaptable for semester-long projects, and serve as starting guidelines for course-based undergraduate research. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johnson, Donald M.; Ferguson, James A.; Vokins, Nancy W.; Lester, Melissa L.
2000-01-01
Over 50% of faculty teaching undergraduate agriculture courses (n=58) required use of word processing, Internet, and electronic mail; less than 50% required spreadsheets, databases, graphics, or specialized software. They planned to maintain or increase required computer tasks in their courses. (SK)
A Structured Approach to Honours Undergraduate Research Course, Evaluation Rubrics and Assessment
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Khoukhi, Amar
2013-10-01
This paper presents a new approach to the Honours Undergraduate Research Course design and implementation. The course design process, assessment and evaluation rubrics are provided. Lessons learned and the experience of the faced challenges and opportunities for two cohort offerings of the course during the winter terms of 2011 and 2012 are highlighted. Assessments show that major benefits include increasing interaction with the faculty and increasing intellectual maturity, skills, knowledge and confidence for the students and for the faculty, the furthering of research projects by the participation of undergraduate students. The course can serve as a model that can be easily adapted for use across the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schutte, Audra Faye
2013-01-01
Anatomy A215: Basic Human Anatomy (Anat A215) is an undergraduate human anatomy course at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) that serves as a requirement for many degree programs at IUB. The difficulty of the course, coupled with pressure to achieve grades for admittance into specific programs, has resulted in high remediation rates. In an…
Increasing Student Responsibility and Active Learning in an Undergraduate Capstone Finance Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nelson, David; Bianco, Candy
2013-01-01
This paper focuses on the effectiveness of factors in designing and delivering a complex, capstone course in an undergraduate major in finance. The course uses an instructional delivery system that is contrasted to the standard lecture format and has a broader set of objectives than is usually specified for a finance course. An objective of the…
Assessment of Problem-Based Learning in the Undergraduate Statistics Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Karpiak, Christie P.
2011-01-01
Undergraduate psychology majors (N = 51) at a mid-sized private university took a statistics examination on the first day of the research methods course, a course for which a grade of "C" or higher in statistics is a prerequisite. Students who had taken a problem-based learning (PBL) section of the statistics course (n = 15) were compared to those…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McFarlin, Brian K.
2008-01-01
Hybrid courses allow students additional exposure to course content that is not possible in a traditional classroom environment. This exposure may lead to an improvement in academic performance. In this report, I describe the transition of a large undergraduate exercise physiology course from a traditional lecture format to a hybrid…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Commission on Engineering Education, Washington, DC.
This report describes an undergraduate course in digital subsystems. The course is divided into two major parts. Part I is entitled Electronic Circuits and Functional Units. The material in this part of the course proceeds from simple understandings of circuits to the progressively more complex functional units. Early emphasis is placed on basic…
Women and Mental Health: Augmenting Undergraduates' Knowledge and Critical Thinking.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gibson, Pamela Reed
1992-01-01
Describes an undergraduate course in psychology that addresses concepts relating to women's mental health. Explains that the course emphasizes the impact of social variables on mental health issues for women. Includes a list of topics and student activities for the course. Presents student reactions and assessment. (DK)
Known Structure, Unknown Function: An Inquiry-Based Undergraduate Biochemistry Laboratory Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gray, Cynthia; Price, Carol W.; Lee, Christopher T.; Dewald, Alison H.; Cline, Matthew A.; McAnany, Charles E.; Columbus, Linda; Mura, Cameron
2015-01-01
Undergraduate biochemistry laboratory courses often do not provide students with an authentic research experience, particularly when the express purpose of the laboratory is purely instructional. However, an instructional laboratory course that is inquiry- and research-based could simultaneously impart scientific knowledge and foster a student's…
Green Chemistry and Sustainability: An Undergraduate Course for Science and Nonscience Majors
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gross, Erin M.
2013-01-01
An undergraduate lecture course in Green Chemistry and Sustainability has been developed and taught to a "multidisciplinary" group of science and nonscience majors. The course introduced students to the topics of green chemistry and sustainability and also immersed them in usage of the scientific literature. Through literature…
Transition from Traditional to ICT-Enhanced Learning Environments in Undergraduate Chemistry Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Barak, Miri
2007-01-01
This paper describes a three-year study conducted among chemistry instructors (professors and teaching assistants) at a post-secondary institution. The goal was to explore the integration process of information and communication technologies (ICT) into traditional teaching. Four undergraduate chemistry courses incorporated a course website, an…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Van Engelen, Debra L.; Suljak, Steven W.; Hall, J. Patrick; Holmes, Bert E.
2007-01-01
The laboratory course around the phytoremediation is designed to develop both individual skills and promote cooperative learning while starting students work on projects in a specific area of environmental chemistry and analysis. Many research-active undergraduate institutions have developed courses, which are interdisciplinary in nature that…
A Research-Based Laboratory Course Designed to Strengthen the Research-Teaching Nexus
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Parra, Karlett J.; Osgood, Marcy P.; Pappas, Donald L., Jr.
2010-01-01
We describe a 10-week laboratory course of guided research experiments thematically linked by topic, which had an ultimate goal of strengthening the undergraduate research-teaching nexus. This undergraduate laboratory course is a direct extension of faculty research interests. From DNA isolation, characterization, and mutagenesis, to protein…
Biochemistry in Undergraduate Health Courses: Structure and Organization
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Silva, Irani F.; Batista, Nildo A.
2003-01-01
This article describes the following aspects of teaching biochemistry in undergraduate health courses: objectives, number of hours, time in which the subject is studied, selection of content, teaching strategies, and evaluation methodologies used. Fifty-three courses distributed in 13 areas within the health field and offered by 12 institutions…
Biochemistry of Neuromuscular Diseases: A Course for Undergraduate Students
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ohlendieck, Kay
2002-01-01
This article outlines an undergraduate course focusing on supramolecular membrane protein complexes involved in the molecular pathogenesis of neuromuscular disorders. The emphasis of this course is to introduce students to the key elements involved in the ion regulation and membrane stabilization during muscle contraction and the role of these…
An Experience Teaching an Undergraduate Level Course in Biophysics
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Feizabadi, Mitra Shojania
2009-01-01
The importance of including concepts, examples, and techniques from mathematics and the physical and information sciences in biology courses to fulfill the need of today's undergraduates has been the principle motivation for developing interdisciplinary biology-focused courses. Although this movement started many years ago, developing and offering…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Clark, Ted M.; Ricciardo, Rebecca; Weaver, Tyler
2016-01-01
General chemistry courses predominantly use expository experiments that shape student expectations of what a laboratory activity entails. Shifting within a semester to course-based undergraduate research activities that include greater decision-making, collaborative work, and "messy" real-world data necessitates a change in student…
Experiences in Developing an Experimental Robotics Course Program for Undergraduate Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jung, Seul
2013-01-01
An interdisciplinary undergraduate-level robotics course offers students the chance to integrate their engineering knowledge learned throughout their college years by building a robotic system. Robotics is thus a core course in system and control-related engineering education. This paper summarizes the experience of developing robotics courses…
What Do Undergraduate Course Syllabi Say about Information Literacy?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McGowan, Britt; Gonzalez, Melissa; Stanny, Claudia J.
2016-01-01
Librarians seek opportunities to improve outreach to faculty and promote shared interests in information literacy. A comprehensive review of syllabi for all undergraduate courses offered during one academic term examined course-level learning outcomes and graded assignments to see how well they aligned with the five Association of College and…
Association between Adult Attachment Representations and Undergraduate Student Course Evaluations
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Henson, Alisha M.; Scharfe, Elaine
2011-01-01
Students' course evaluations often play an important role in career advancement for faculty. The authors examined the association between attachment representations of parents and course evaluations in a sample of 230 undergraduate students. They found a significant negative association between attachment anxiety with parents and course…
A Seminar Course to Prepare Astronomy Undergraduate Students for Multiple Career Paths
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hayes-Gehrke, Melissa; Harris, Andrew
2018-01-01
The increasing focus on the importance of STEM careers has led increasing numbers of students to enroll in STEM majors at the University of Maryland, including traditionally smaller majors such as Astronomy. The pursuit of a PhD is neither desirable nor appropriate for many of these students, but most of them lack knowledge of other options open to students with a rigorous science undergraduate degree. We have developed an interactive seminar (1-credit) course (first offered in Fall 2017) intended to expose new Astronomy majors to an array of possible career paths, and give them guidance on steps they can take to prepare for these careers as well as graduate school. Supporting topics include discussions of the elements necessary for success in their undergraduate studies, skills needed preparing for undergraduate research and internship experiences, and showing them how and when an undergraduate research experience will be beneficial for them. We present the seminar course learning goals, topic list and course structure, and results of pre- and post-attitudes surveys.
Reinforcing Comprehensive Business Learning through an Undergraduate Retailing Course: A Prospectus
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ahmed, Irfan
2009-01-01
Undergraduate programs in business are expected to provide a comprehensive learning for their students in order to prepare them to be able to deal with complex business problems in their jobs. Business schools attempt to provide this learning through various curricular design strategies. This paper proposes the use of an undergraduate course in…
Teaching Undergraduate Mathematics in Interactive Groups: How Does It Fit with Students' Learning?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sheryn, Louise; Ell, Fiona
2014-01-01
Debates about how undergraduate mathematics should be taught are informed by different views of what it is to learn and to do mathematics. In this qualitative study 10 students enrolled in an advanced undergraduate course in mathematics shared their views about how they best learn mathematics. After participating in a semester-long course in…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mandeville, David; Stoner, Mark
2015-01-01
The aim of this study was to assess the effect of using the problem-based learning (PBL) teaching strategy on student academic achievement and secondary learning outcomes when compared with the traditional lecture (TL) for an undergraduate Biomechanics course. Successive undergraduate Biomechanics courses--a TL cohort and a PBL cohort--were…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Uluçay, Taner
2017-01-01
This study was carried out in order to determine attitudes of undergraduate students who studied music vocationally towards the individual instrument course according to the variables of grade, gender, individual instrument and graduated high school type. The research data were obtained from 102 undergraduate students studying in Erzincan…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hollenbeck, Jessica J.; Wixson, Emily N.; Geske, Grant D.; Dodge, Matthew W.; Tseng, T. Andrew; Clauss, Allen D.; Blackwell, Helen E.
2006-01-01
The transformation of 346 chemistry courses into a training experience that could provide undergraduate students with a skill set essential for a research-based chemistry career is presented. The course has an innovative structure that connects undergraduate students with graduate research labs at the semester midpoint and also includes new,…
Learners' Perceptions and Undergraduate Foreign Language Courses at a Colombian Public University
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sánchez Solarte, Ana Clara; Obando Guerrero, Gabriel Vicente; Ibarra Santacruz, Diana
2017-01-01
This article reports the results of a study whose goal was to determine the views of undergraduate students regarding the English as a foreign language courses they must take as a requirement for graduation at a public university in Colombia. One hundred and thirty students from 10 undergraduate programs were surveyed and their responses were…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ferguson, William D.
2011-01-01
Undergraduate economics lags behind cutting-edge economic theory. The author briefly reviews six related advances that profoundly extend and deepen economic analysis: game-theoretic modeling, collective-action problems, information economics and contracting, social preference theory, conceptualizing rationality, and institutional theory. He offers…
A team approach to an undergraduate interprofessional communication course.
Doucet, Shelley; Buchanan, Judy; Cole, Tricia; McCoy, Carolyn
2013-05-01
Interprofessional communication is a team-taught upper-level undergraduate course for Nursing and Health Sciences students. In addition to teaching fundamental communication skills, this course weaves interprofessional competencies into weekly learning activities and assignments. The utilization of the principles and practices of team-based learning in the classroom enhances the attainment and practice of communication and interprofessional collaboration skills. Lessons learned from conducting informal course evaluations and delivering the course multiple times are presented.
The Case for Including Eulerian Kinematics in Undergraduate Dynamics.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Uram, Earl M.
A Eulerian framework is proposed as an alternative to the Lagrangian framework usually used in undergraduate dynamics courses. An attempt to introduce Eulerian kinematics into a dynamics course is discussed. (LMH)
34 CFR 691.6 - Duration of student eligibility-undergraduate course of study.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-07-01
...) AND NATIONAL SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS ACCESS TO RETAIN TALENT GRANT (NATIONAL SMART GRANT) PROGRAMS Scope, Purpose, and General Definitions § 691.6 Duration of student eligibility—undergraduate course of...
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Incikabi, Lutfi; Serin, Mehmet Koray
2017-08-01
Most science departments offer compulsory mathematics courses to their students with the expectation that students can apply their experience from the mathematics courses to other fields of study, including science. The current study first aims to investigate the views of pre-service science teachers of science-teaching preparation degrees and their expectations regarding the difficulty level of mathematics courses in science-teaching education programmes. Second, the study investigates changes and the reasons behind the changes in their interest regarding mathematics after completing these courses. Third, the current study seeks to reveal undergraduate science teachers' opinions regarding the contribution of undergraduate mathematics courses to their professional development. Being qualitative in nature, this study was a case study. According to the results, almost all of the students considered that undergraduate mathematics courses were 'difficult' because of the complex and intensive content of the courses and their poor background mathematical knowledge. Moreover, the majority of science undergraduates mentioned that mathematics would contribute to their professional development as a science teacher. On the other hand, they declared a negative change in their attitude towards mathematics after completing the mathematics courses due to continuous failure at mathematics and their teachers' lack of knowledge in terms of teaching mathematics.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rubenking, Bridget; Dodd, Melissa
2018-01-01
Previous research suggests that undergraduate research methods students doubt the utility of course content and experience math and research anxiety. Research also suggests involving students in hands-on, applied research activities, although empirical data on the scope and nature of these activities are lacking. This study compared academic…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Farkas, Gary J.; Mazurek, Ewa; Marone, Jane R.
2016-01-01
The VARK learning style is a pedagogical focus in health care education. This study examines relationships of course performance vs. VARK learning preference, study time, and career plan among students enrolled in an undergraduate anatomy and physiology course at a large urban university. Students (n?=?492) from the fall semester course completed…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alfauzan, Abdullah H.; Hussain, Abduljabbar G.
2017-01-01
The study attempts to investigate the attitude and perception of Saudi undergraduate students towards English literature courses as a part of their BA English Program at a large public university in KSA. A total of 59 students (25 studying a literature course, 25 linguistics course and nine had already passed at least one literature course)…
Socio-economic and schooling status of dental undergraduates from six French universities.
Hennequin, M; Tubert, S; Devillers, A; Müller, M; Michaïlesco, P; Peli, J F; Pouëzat, J
2002-08-01
The aim of this study was to evaluate the socio-economic status of French undergraduate dental students. A 46-item questionnaire was completed by the dental students of six universities between 1992 and 1995. Subjects related to family background, housing, schooling, income, expenditure and participation in student life were investigated. A total of 1192 out of 1207 questionnaires were returned. Both genders had equal access to dental training. The average overall cost of the four last years of the dental course was 30,302 French francs and varied greatly between faculties, as did the number of hours spent at the faculty for lectures, tutorials and practicals, and clinical work. Overall, the majority of students came from a well off social background, and had a relatively high quality of life while a small minority received no support from their families. Thirty-four per cent of students had never worked. One third of students smoked and one third regularly consumed medication of some sort. A third did not participate in any sport. Only 25% students bought dental text books and 42% of the students reported using the library regularly. This study offers an accurate description of the socio-economic status of French dental students that could be used as a reference for comparable studies in other European countries.
Reforming an Undergraduate Environmental Science Course for Nonscience Majors
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kazempour, Mahsa; Amirshokoohi, Aidin
2013-01-01
This article discusses the key components of a reform-based introductory undergraduate environmental science course for nonscience majors and elementary teacher candidates as well as the impact of such components on the participants. The main goals for the course were to actively engage the students in their learning and, in doing so, to enhance…
"The Physics of Life," an Undergraduate General Education Biophysics Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Parthasarathy, Raghuveer
2015-01-01
Improving the scientific literacy of non-scientists is an important aim, both because of the ever-increasing impact of science on our lives and because understanding science enriches our experience of the natural world. One route to improving scientific literacy is via general education undergraduate courses--i.e. courses for students not majoring…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Filho, Paulo Jose Barbosa Gutierres; Monteiro, Maria Dolores Alves Ferreira; da Silva, Rudney; Hodge, Samuel R.
2013-01-01
The purpose of this study was to analyze adapted physical education instructors' views about the application of the theory of planned behavior (TpB) in teaching physical education undergraduate courses. Participants ("n" = 17) were instructors of adapted physical activity courses from twelve randomly selected institutions of higher…
An Evaluation of HigherEd 2.0 Technologies in Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Orange, Amy; Heinecke, Walter; Berger, Edward; Krousgrill, Charles; Mikic, Borjana; Quinn, Dane
2012-01-01
Between 2006 and 2010, sophomore engineering students at four universities were exposed to technologies designed to increase their learning in undergraduate engineering courses. Our findings suggest that students at all sites found the technologies integrated into their courses useful to their learning. Video solutions received the most positive…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hart, Jeffrey A.
1985-01-01
Presents a discussion of how computer simulations are used in two undergraduate social science courses and a faculty computer literacy course on simulations and artificial intelligence. Includes a list of 60 simulations for use on mainframes and microcomputers. Entries include type of hardware required, publisher's address, and cost. Sample…
Student Engagement in a Compulsory Introductory Physiology Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brown, S. J.; White, S.; Bowmar, A.; Power, N.
2017-01-01
Appropriate instruments are required to determine student engagement on an undergraduate course, and in this study we evaluated a 23 item Student Course Engagement Questionnaire (SCEQ) administered to undergraduate students studying a Bachelor of Sport and Recreation degree. These students were in the first semester of a 3 year degree, and were…
Lessons Learned from Undergraduate Students in Designing a Science-Based Course in Bioethics
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Loike, John D.; Rush, Brittany S.; Schweber, Adam; Fischbach, Ruth L.
2013-01-01
Columbia University offers two innovative undergraduate science-based bioethics courses for student majoring in biosciences and pre-health studies. The goals of these courses are to introduce future scientists and healthcare professionals to the ethical questions they will confront in their professional lives, thus enabling them to strategically…
Exploring Differences in Business Undergraduate Perceptions by Preferred Classroom Delivery Mode
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Blau, Gary; Drennan, Rob
2017-01-01
The purpose of this study was to compare business undergraduate online/hybrid course perceptions across three different preferred classroom environment delivery modes: online, hybrid, or face-toface (F2F). Four different perceptions were measured: perceived favorability of online/hybrid courses (PFoOC); intent to recommend online/hybrid courses;…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Markle, Gail
2017-01-01
Undergraduate social science research methods courses tend to have higher than average rates of failure and withdrawal. Lack of success in these courses impedes students' progression through their degree programs and negatively impacts institutional retention and graduation rates. Grounded in adult learning theory, this mixed methods study…
Comparing Effectiveness of Undergraduate Course Delivery: A Student Perspective
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Koenig, Robert J.
2009-01-01
Higher education students can and do take courses delivered in a variety of ways. But, to date, little research has been done on the effectiveness of different delivery modes. This study sought to fill that void by comparing the effectiveness of three undergraduate course delivery modes: classroom, online, and video conference at a technical…
Clarity in Teaching and Active Learning in Undergraduate Microbiology Course for Non-Majors
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marbach-Ad, Gili; McGinnis, J. Randy; Pease, Rebecca; Dai, Amy H.; Schalk, Kelly A.; Benson, Spencer
2010-01-01
We investigated a pedagogical innovation in an undergraduate microbiology course (Microbes and Society) for non-majors and education majors. The goals of the curriculum and pedagogical transformation were to promote active learning and concentrate on clarity in teaching. This course was part of a longitudinal project (Project Nexus) which…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
French, Debbie Ann
2016-01-01
In this dissertation, the researcher describes authentic scientific inquiry (ASI) within three stages of teacher preparation and development: a1) undergraduate STEM courses, b2) preservice secondary science education methods courses, and c3) inservice teacher professional development (PD). Incorporating (ASI)--pedagogy closely modeling the…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wilcox, Bethany R.; Lewandowski, H. J.
2017-01-01
Laboratory courses represent a unique and potentially important component of the undergraduate physics curriculum, which can be designed to allow students to authentically engage with the process of experimental physics. Among other possible benefits, participation in these courses throughout the undergraduate physics curriculum presents an…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Anicic, Katarina Pažur; Mekovec, Renata
2016-01-01
This paper describes the implementation of problem-based learning (PBL) principles in an undergraduate IT service management course, followed by the results about student satisfaction and work performance. The results indicate the students' general satisfaction with the course implementation, as well as some challenges regarding the…
Upper-Level Undergraduate Chemistry Students' Goals for Their Laboratory Coursework
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
DeKorver, Brittland K.; Towns, Marcy H.
2016-01-01
Efforts to reform undergraduate chemistry laboratory coursework typically focus on the curricula of introductory-level courses, while upper-level courses are bypassed. This study used video-stimulated recall to interview 17 junior- and senior- level chemistry majors after they carried out an experiment as part of a laboratory course. It is assumed…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gibbins, Thor
2013-01-01
This study explores the experiences of undergraduate students enrolled in an education I-Series (University of Maryland undergraduate courses designed to inspire innovation, imagination, and intellect) course, Good Stories: Teaching Stories for Peace and Justice. In this course students are asked to produce digital stories that project themes of…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Adams, Janet S.; Veliyath, Rajaram
2003-01-01
This study compared undergraduate international business and international management course syllabi from 190 management departments at accredited U.S. business schools. Comparisons revealed considerable overlap in topic areas in the two courses. The findings indicate the need for greater domain clarity and differentiation in objectives, topic…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kendall, K. Denise; Schussler, Elisabeth E.
2013-01-01
Undergraduate experiences in lower-division science courses are important factors in student retention in science majors. These courses often include a lecture taught by faculty, supplemented by smaller sections, such as discussions and laboratories, taught by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). Given that portions of these courses are taught by…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wright, Shirley J.
2012-01-01
Several programs in health professional education require or are considering requiring upper-level human anatomy as prerequisite for their applicants. Undergraduate students are confronted with few institutions offering such a course, in part because of the expense and logistical issues associated with a cadaver-based human anatomy course. This…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Henkel, Marius; Zwick, Michaela; Beuker, Janina; Willenbacher, Judit; Baumann, Sandra; Oswald, Florian; Neumann, Anke; Siemann-Herzberg, Martin; Syldatk, Christoph; Hausmann, Rudolf
2015-01-01
Bioprocess engineering is a highly interdisciplinary field of study which is strongly benefited by practical courses where students can actively experience the interconnection between biology, engineering, and physical sciences. This work describes a lab course developed for 2nd year undergraduate students of bioprocess engineering and related…
A Green Marketing Course for Business Undergraduates
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rudell, Fredrica
2011-01-01
Since the 1970s, periodic calls have been made for incorporation of sustainability issues into marketing and other business courses. Now more than ever, we need to prepare students for careers in the green economy. This article will describe the author's experience teaching a Green Marketing course to business undergraduates. A review of content,…
Introduction of basic obstetrical ultrasound screening in undergraduate medical education.
Hamza, A; Solomayer, E-F; Takacs, Z; Juhasz-Boes, I; Joukhadar, R; Radosa, J C; Mavrova, R; Marc, W; Volk, T; Meyberg-Solomayer, G
2016-09-01
Teaching ultrasound procedures to undergraduates has recently been proposed to improve the quality of medical education. We address the impact of applying standardized ultrasound teaching to our undergraduates. Medical students received an additional theoretical and practical course involving hands-on ultrasound screening during their mandatory practical training week in obstetrics and gynecology. The students' theoretical knowledge and fetal image recognition skills were tested before and after the course. After the course, the students were asked to answer a course evaluation questionnaire. To standardize the teaching procedure, we used Peyton's 4-Step Approach to teach the skills needed for a German Society of Ultrasound in Medicine Level 1 ultrasound examiner. The multiple-choice question scores after the course showed statistically significant improvement (50 vs. 80 %; P < 0.001). The questionnaire revealed that students were satisfied with the course, felt that it increased their ultrasound knowledge, and indicated that they wanted more sonographic hands-on training in both obstetrics and gynecology and other medical fields. Using practical, hands-on medical teaching is an emerging method for undergraduate education that should be further evaluated, standardized, and developed.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Markette, Jo Ann Alicia Foley
2012-01-01
The purpose of this study was to examine whether or not a change in religiosity would occur in undergraduate students at a West Coast Christian university as a result of their participation in an online Christian worldview course. Twenty-six undergraduate students participated in this pretest posttest quasi-experimental study which employed the…
Corwin, Lisa A.; Runyon, Christopher; Robinson, Aspen; Dolan, Erin L.
2015-01-01
Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are increasingly being offered as scalable ways to involve undergraduates in research. Yet few if any design features that make CUREs effective have been identified. We developed a 17-item survey instrument, the Laboratory Course Assessment Survey (LCAS), that measures students’ perceptions of three design features of biology lab courses: 1) collaboration, 2) discovery and relevance, and 3) iteration. We assessed the psychometric properties of the LCAS using established methods for instrument design and validation. We also assessed the ability of the LCAS to differentiate between CUREs and traditional laboratory courses, and found that the discovery and relevance and iteration scales differentiated between these groups. Our results indicate that the LCAS is suited for characterizing and comparing undergraduate biology lab courses and should be useful for determining the relative importance of the three design features for achieving student outcomes. PMID:26466990
Learning Activities for an Undergraduate Mineralogy/Petrology Course-"I Am/We Are."
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goodell, Philip C.
2001-01-01
Introduces an entry level mineralogy/igneous petrology course designed for undergraduate students and presents a series of learning activities based on individual and cooperative learning. Includes 18 references. (Author/YDS)
Smith, Susan C; Penumetcha, Meera
2010-01-01
Given the foundational importance of literature searching skills to later stages of research and, ultimately, evidence-based practice, the authors wanted to assess a unique strategy for teaching such skills. This pilot study describes the results of an undergraduate nutrition research course in which a librarian lead several class sessions. The goal of this study was to assess students' perceptions, attitudes and use of research literature and resources before and after a course partially taught by a librarian. Twenty-seven students enrolled in an undergraduate Introduction to Research course at Georgia State University were given pre- and post-test questionnaires at the beginning and end of a course that included three librarian-led class sessions. Most of the results indicate that the repeated involvement of a librarian enriched this particular undergraduate research course. By the end of the course, students were more comfortable in libraries and with using library resources; they used the campus library more frequently; they were more confident in their ability to find high-quality information on nutrition-related topics and identify strengths and weaknesses of different information sources; and they felt they gained skills that will help them achieve their educational and career goals.
Renewable Energy Certificate Program
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Gwendolyn S. Andersen
2012-07-17
This project was primarily to develop and implement a curriculum which will train undergraduate and graduate students at the University seeking a degree as well as training for enrollees in a special certification program to prepare individuals to be employed in a broad range of occupations in the field of renewable energy and energy conservation. Curriculum development was by teams of Saint Francis University Faculty in the Business Administration and Science Departments and industry experts. Students seeking undergraduate and graduate degrees are able to enroll in courses offered within these departments which will combine theory and hands-on training in themore » various elements of wind power development. For example, the business department curriculum areas include economic modeling, finance, contracting, etc. The science areas include meteorology, energy conversion and projection, species identification, habitat protection, field data collection and analysis, etc.« less
Student Engagement and Empowerment Through Earth System Science
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Low, R.; Schnurrenberger, D.
2001-12-01
Through ESSEA's curricula, we promote empowerment of our diverse student body through access to excellence in science education and technology. Global change, by virtue of its economic relevance and environmental urgency, engages students in science inquiry. Global change is emerging as a political issue as countries with fewer resources are less able to buffer their economic systems from hardships resulting from climatic change. The ESS and global change emphasis facilitates in-depth classroom examination of the social ramifications of science and technology as required by Minnesota's state science standards. Access to ESSEA courses for in-service teachers is promoted by several programmatic initiatives of the University of Minnesota. High school and undergraduate versions of the on-line course are now in development. Summer research experiences for teachers, research projects by secondary classrooms tracking local environmental change, and involvement of graduate student scientists as on-line mentors of the ESSEA courses are components of a broader program that is building a multidisciplinary science-based learning community in Minnesota. ESSEA is the flagship program of Science CentrUM, a consortium of science and education colleges at the University of Minnesota promoting excellence in science education through content-based professional development for K-12 educators.
Uncovering protein-protein interactions through a team-based undergraduate biochemistry course.
Cookmeyer, David L; Winesett, Emily S; Kokona, Bashkim; Huff, Adam R; Aliev, Sabina; Bloch, Noah B; Bulos, Joshua A; Evans, Irene L; Fagre, Christian R; Godbe, Kerilyn N; Khromava, Maryna; Konstantinovsky, Daniel M; Lafrance, Alexander E; Lamacki, Alexandra J; Parry, Robert C; Quinn, Jeanne M; Thurston, Alana M; Tsai, Kathleen J S; Mollo, Aurelio; Cryle, Max J; Fairman, Robert; Charkoudian, Louise K
2017-11-01
How can we provide fertile ground for students to simultaneously explore a breadth of foundational knowledge, develop cross-disciplinary problem-solving skills, gain resiliency, and learn to work as a member of a team? One way is to integrate original research in the context of an undergraduate biochemistry course. In this Community Page, we discuss the development and execution of an interdisciplinary and cross-departmental undergraduate biochemistry laboratory course. We present a template for how a similar course can be replicated at other institutions and provide pedagogical and research results from a sample module in which we challenged our students to study the binding interface between 2 important biosynthetic proteins. Finally, we address the community and invite others to join us in making a larger impact on undergraduate education and the field of biochemistry by coordinating efforts to integrate research and teaching across campuses.
Uncovering protein–protein interactions through a team-based undergraduate biochemistry course
Cookmeyer, David L.; Winesett, Emily S.; Kokona, Bashkim; Huff, Adam R.; Aliev, Sabina; Bloch, Noah B.; Bulos, Joshua A.; Evans, Irene L.; Fagre, Christian R.; Godbe, Kerilyn N.; Khromava, Maryna; Konstantinovsky, Daniel M.; Lafrance, Alexander E.; Lamacki, Alexandra J.; Parry, Robert C.; Quinn, Jeanne M.; Thurston, Alana M.; Tsai, Kathleen J. S.; Mollo, Aurelio; Cryle, Max J.; Fairman, Robert
2017-01-01
How can we provide fertile ground for students to simultaneously explore a breadth of foundational knowledge, develop cross-disciplinary problem-solving skills, gain resiliency, and learn to work as a member of a team? One way is to integrate original research in the context of an undergraduate biochemistry course. In this Community Page, we discuss the development and execution of an interdisciplinary and cross-departmental undergraduate biochemistry laboratory course. We present a template for how a similar course can be replicated at other institutions and provide pedagogical and research results from a sample module in which we challenged our students to study the binding interface between 2 important biosynthetic proteins. Finally, we address the community and invite others to join us in making a larger impact on undergraduate education and the field of biochemistry by coordinating efforts to integrate research and teaching across campuses. PMID:29091712
A mathematics content course and teaching efficacy beliefs of undergraduate majors in education.
Alkhateeb, Haitham M; Abed, Adnan S
2003-10-01
This study was designed to assess the mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs of undergraduates in elementary education through a manipulative-based course in mathematics. Responses of 106 university undergraduates to the 21-item Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs administered as pre- and posttest without a control group showed a significant immediate postcourse change in their efficacy beliefs using dependent t test.
The Views of Undergraduates about Problem-Based Learning Applications in a Biochemistry Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tarhan, Leman; Ayyildiz, Yildizay
2015-01-01
The effect of problem-based learning (PBL) applications in an undergraduate biochemistry course on students' interest in this course was investigated through four modules during one semester. Students' views about active learning and improvement in social skills were also collected and evaluated. We conducted the study with 36 senior students from…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hawi, N.
2010-01-01
The purpose of this research is to identify the causal attributions of business computing students in an introductory computer programming course, in the computer science department at Notre Dame University, Louaize. Forty-five male and female undergraduates who completed the computer programming course that extended for a 13-week semester…
Peer Learning and Support of Technology in an Undergraduate Biology Course to Enhance Deep Learning
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tsaushu, Masha; Tal, Tali; Sagy, Ornit; Kali, Yael; Gepstein, Shimon; Zilberstein, Dan
2012-01-01
This study offers an innovative and sustainable instructional model for an introductory undergraduate course. The model was gradually implemented during 3 yr in a research university in a large-lecture biology course that enrolled biology majors and nonmajors. It gives priority to sources not used enough to enhance active learning in higher…
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Vasko, Elisabeth T.
2017-01-01
Civic learning and teaching, a form of critical and democratically engaged pedagogy, is utilized in an upper-level undergraduate sexual ethics course to leverage public problem solving around the sexual violence on a mid-size Catholic collegiate campus. Through the course, students, faculty, staff, and community members work together to deepen…
10 Ways to Improve Instructor Effectiveness in an Undergraduate Exercise Physiology Course
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Acquaviva, John
2015-01-01
The purpose of this article is to present a variety of teaching strategies in one of the most difficult courses undergraduates are required to take: exercise physiology. This course is unique because it challenges students to constantly recall and apply complex concepts to a variety of exercise modes, intensities, and conditions. Further, both the…
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Whillier, Stephney; Lystad, Reidar P.
2013-01-01
The total number of anatomy teaching hours has declined in medical courses worldwide. Conversely, face-to-face teaching in undergraduate neuroanatomy at Macquarie University increased by 50% in 2011. Our aim was to investigate whether this influenced student performance and overall satisfaction with the course. One hundred eighty-one students…
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Groulx, Timothy J.
2016-01-01
Music educators (n = 601) responded to a survey designed to investigate what undergraduate music education curricular changes might be desired to better serve the profession. Participants rated the value of the 20 most common types of courses in a music teacher education program. The highest rated courses were student teaching, ensembles, applied…
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Lederer, Alyssa M.
2016-01-01
Values clarification is an important tool that helps individuals to clarify their beliefs about sexuality-related issues. This lesson plan provides instructions for a 1-hour values clarification activity for a large undergraduate human sexuality course that serves as an introduction to course content and tone, stimulates students' initial thinking…
Benchmarking and Accreditation Goals Support the Value of an Undergraduate Business Law Core Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
O'Brien, Christine Neylon; Powers, Richard E.; Wesner, Thomas L.
2018-01-01
This article provides information about the value of a core course in business law and why it remains essential to business education. It goes on to identify highly ranked undergraduate business programs that require one or more business law courses. Using "Business Week" and "US News and World Report" to identify top…
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Meyer-Base, U.; Vera, A.; Meyer-Base, A.; Pattichis, M. S.; Perry, R. J.
2010-01-01
In this paper, an innovative educational approach to introducing undergraduates to both digital signal processing (DSP) and field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based design in a one-semester course and laboratory is described. While both DSP and FPGA-based courses are currently present in different curricula, this integrated approach reduces the…
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Near, Joseph A.; Martin, Bruce J.
2007-01-01
The topic of psychoactive drugs is one of inherent interest to college students. We used this insight to design and implement a multidisciplinary undergraduate course with psychoactive drugs as the central theme. The Medical Science of Psychoactive Drugs examines the biological mechanisms underlying all major effects of psychoactive drugs,…
Options for Online Undergraduate Courses in Biology at American Colleges and Universities
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Varty, Alison K.
2016-01-01
I aimed to document the online undergraduate course supply in biology to evaluate how well biology educators are serving the diverse and growing population of online students. I documented online biology course offerings in the 2015-2016 academic year at 96 American colleges and universities. I quantified differences in variety, extent, and…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Robbins, Emily J.; Kinney, Jennifer M.; Kart, Cary S.
2008-01-01
With National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Aging (NIH/NIA) (R15/AREA) funding, the authors offered a four-credit hour undergraduate research course that was cross-listed in gerontology and sociology. This capstone course was aimed at providing students with the opportunity to (1) gain knowledge about diabetes and racial/ethnic…
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Mena, Irene B.; Schmitz, Sven; McLaughlin, Dennis
2015-01-01
This paper describes the implementation and assessment of an aerospace engineering course in which undergraduate students worked on research projects with graduate research mentors. The course was created using the principles from cooperative learning and project-based learning, and consisted of students working in small groups on a complex,…
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Fontenot, Renée J.; Mathisen, Richard E.; Carley, Susan S.; Stuart, Randy S.
2015-01-01
An exploratory study of undergraduate students enrolled in marketing courses at a Southeastern regional university was conducted to determine the motivations and characteristics of marketing students who plan to be online learners and examined for differences between those who have taken and those who have not taken online classes. An online…
Improving Undergraduate Online Retention through Gated Advisement and Redundant Communication
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Clay, Melanie N.; Rowland, Stacey; Packard, Abbot
2009-01-01
The University of West Georgia implemented a successful research-based initiative, Project DEW (Developing eCore Winners) to improve retention in its eCore courses. eCore courses are those offered through a collaborative University System of Georgia program, and includes courses required to complete the first two years of an undergraduate degree.…
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Miller, John A.
2017-01-01
The purpose of this article is to describe an experiential course designed to overcome the specific problems inherent in working with undergraduate students in introductory management courses. The article grew out of discussions among faculty at the 1988 Academy of Management meetings who shared deep concerns about the quality of undergraduate…
When Theory Meets Practice: A New Approach for Teaching Undergraduate Sales Management Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
O'Reilly, Kelley A.
2015-01-01
Most sales management undergraduate courses teach students about sales management rather than how to successfully manage a sales team. A desire to change this paradigm resulted in a newly designed hands-on, skill-based sales management course that uses business case studies in combination with students developing, practicing, and performing the…
Minimum Competencies for Teaching Undergraduate Sport Philosophy Courses. Guidance Document
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 2004
2004-01-01
Although sport philosophy is considered to be a sub-discipline with its own unique body of knowledge, sport philosophy is more commonly offered as a single course rather than a degree program. Therefore, these guidelines are offered specifically for the teaching of a single course at the undergraduate level. In order to be effective, the course…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Simm, David; Marvell, Alan; Schaaf, Rebecca; Winlow, Heather
2012-01-01
Over the last decade, some UK Geography Departments have diversified their range of courses to offer Foundation degrees (Fds), providing students with alternative routes through higher education (HE). These courses are delivered either offsite at further education colleges (FECs), embedded within an undergraduate programme at higher education…
Assessment of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences: A Meeting Report
Auchincloss, Lisa Corwin; Laursen, Sandra L.; Branchaw, Janet L.; Eagan, Kevin; Graham, Mark; Hanauer, David I.; Lawrie, Gwendolyn; McLinn, Colleen M.; Pelaez, Nancy; Rowland, Susan; Towns, Marcy; Trautmann, Nancy M.; Varma-Nelson, Pratibha; Weston, Timothy J.; Dolan, Erin L.
2014-01-01
The Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences Network (CUREnet) was initiated in 2012 with funding from the National Science Foundation program for Research Coordination Networks in Undergraduate Biology Education. CUREnet aims to address topics, problems, and opportunities inherent to integrating research experiences into undergraduate courses. During CUREnet meetings and discussions, it became apparent that there is need for a clear definition of what constitutes a CURE and systematic exploration of what makes CUREs meaningful in terms of student learning. Thus, we assembled a small working group of people with expertise in CURE instruction and assessment to: 1) draft an operational definition of a CURE, with the aim of defining what makes a laboratory course or project a “research experience”; 2) summarize research on CUREs, as well as findings from studies of undergraduate research internships that would be useful for thinking about how students are influenced by participating in CUREs; and 3) identify areas of greatest need with respect to CURE assessment, and directions for future research on and evaluation of CUREs. This report summarizes the outcomes and recommendations of this meeting. PMID:24591501
Bridgewater, Laura C.; Jensen, Jamie L.; Breakwell, Donald P.; Nielsen, Brent L.; Johnson, Steven M.
2018-01-01
A critical area of emphasis for science educators is the identification of effective means of teaching and engaging undergraduate students. Personal microbiome analysis is a means of identifying the microbial communities found on or in our body. We hypothesized the use of personal microbiome analysis in the classroom could improve science education by making courses more applied and engaging for undergraduate students. We determined to test this prediction in three Brigham Young University undergraduate courses: Immunology, Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory, and Genomics. These three courses have a two-week microbiome unit and students during the 2016 semester students could submit their own personal microbiome kit or use the demo data, whereas during the 2017 semester students were given access to microbiome data from an anonymous individual. The students were surveyed before, during, and after the human microbiome unit to determine whether analyzing their own personal microbiome data, compared to analyzing demo microbiome data, impacted student engagement and interest. We found that personal microbiome analysis significantly enhanced the engagement and interest of students while completing microbiome assignments, the self-reported time students spent researching the microbiome during the two week microbiome unit, and the attitudes of students regarding the course overall. Thus, we found that integrating personal microbiome analysis in the classroom was a powerful means of improving student engagement and interest in undergraduate science courses. PMID:29641525
Weber, K Scott; Bridgewater, Laura C; Jensen, Jamie L; Breakwell, Donald P; Nielsen, Brent L; Johnson, Steven M
2018-01-01
A critical area of emphasis for science educators is the identification of effective means of teaching and engaging undergraduate students. Personal microbiome analysis is a means of identifying the microbial communities found on or in our body. We hypothesized the use of personal microbiome analysis in the classroom could improve science education by making courses more applied and engaging for undergraduate students. We determined to test this prediction in three Brigham Young University undergraduate courses: Immunology, Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory, and Genomics. These three courses have a two-week microbiome unit and students during the 2016 semester students could submit their own personal microbiome kit or use the demo data, whereas during the 2017 semester students were given access to microbiome data from an anonymous individual. The students were surveyed before, during, and after the human microbiome unit to determine whether analyzing their own personal microbiome data, compared to analyzing demo microbiome data, impacted student engagement and interest. We found that personal microbiome analysis significantly enhanced the engagement and interest of students while completing microbiome assignments, the self-reported time students spent researching the microbiome during the two week microbiome unit, and the attitudes of students regarding the course overall. Thus, we found that integrating personal microbiome analysis in the classroom was a powerful means of improving student engagement and interest in undergraduate science courses.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Journal of Teaching in the Addictions, 2002
2002-01-01
"Methods and Techniques" includes 15 graduate, 2 undergraduate, and 1 community college working syllabi for courses taught at schools throughout the country. Graduate syllabi include courses on addictions diagnosis, treatment, and counseling; drug problem identification; and behavior and treatment issues; Undergraduate syllabi include: Alcohol and…
Constructive Learning in Undergraduate Linear Algebra
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chandler, Farrah Jackson; Taylor, Dewey T.
2008-01-01
In this article we describe a project that we used in our undergraduate linear algebra courses to help our students successfully master fundamental concepts and definitions and generate interest in the course. We describe our philosophy and discuss the projects overall success.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hekmat-Scafe, Daria S.; Brownell, Sara E.; Seawell, Patricia Chandler; Malladi, Shyamala; Imam, Jamie F. Conklin; Singla, Veena; Bradon, Nicole; Cyert, Martha S.; Stearns, Tim
2017-01-01
The opportunity to engage in scientific research is an important, but often neglected, component of undergraduate training in biology. We describe the curriculum for an innovative, course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) appropriate for a large, introductory cell and molecular biology laboratory class that leverages students' high…
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Brown, S. J.; White, S.; Power, N.
2015-01-01
A cluster analysis data classification technique was used on assessment scores from 157 undergraduate nursing students who passed 2 successive compulsory courses in human anatomy and physiology. Student scores in five summative assessment tasks, taken in each of the courses, were used as inputs for a cluster analysis procedure. We aimed to group…
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Flohic, Hélène M. L. G.
2017-01-01
A common challenge among university professors is how to best design undergraduate courses to successfully enhance students' attitudes. To compare which curriculum was more efficient at fostering a positive attitude towards science in general, I studied the impact of two different general education science courses on the attitudes of college…
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LeGrand, Karen; Yamashita, Lina; Trexler, Cary J.; Vu, Thi Lam An; Young, Glenn M.
2017-01-01
Although many educators now recognize the value of problem-based learning and experiential learning, undergraduate-level food science courses that reflect these pedagogical approaches are still relatively novel, especially in East and Southeast Asia. Leveraging existing partnerships with farmers in Vietnam, a food science course for students at…
An Evaluation of the Impact of a Wellness Course in the Undergraduate Psychology Curriculum.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kushner, Richard I.; Hartigan, Phyllis
Wellness and holistic health models, which focus on life style as a major component of long term health, are thriving throughout the United States. To evaluate the impact of an undergraduate psycholgoy course dealing with health enhancement, wellness, and prevention issues, 24 college freshmen enrolled in one of two courses for a 10-week period: a…
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O'Brien-Moran, Michael; Soiferman, L. Karen
2010-01-01
This study involved a one-time survey of first-year undergraduate students at a Canadian University to determine their expectations when beginning a writing intensive course (i.e., the so-called "W" course, which is required of all first-year undergraduates at the University of Manitoba.) In this study, we focused on the University's…
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Koenig, Robert J.
2010-01-01
Higher education faculty can and do teach courses delivered in a variety of ways. But, to date, little research has been done on the effectiveness of different delivery modes. This study sought to fill that void by comparing the effectiveness of three undergraduate course delivery modes: classroom, online, and video conference at a technical…
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Gliddon, C. M.; Rosengren, R. J.
2012-01-01
This article describes a 13-week laboratory course called Human Toxicology taught at the University of Otago, New Zealand. This course used a guided inquiry based laboratory coupled with formative assessment and collaborative learning to develop in undergraduate students the skills of problem solving/critical thinking, data interpretation and…
Interactive Computation for Undergraduates: The Next Generation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kolan, Amy J.
2017-05-01
A generation ago (29 years ago), Leo Kadanoff and Michael Vinson created the Computers, Chaos, and Physics course. A major pedagogical thrust of this course was to help students form and test hypotheses via computer simulation of small problems in physics. Recently, this aspect of the 1987 course has been revived for use with first year physics undergraduate students at St. Olaf College.
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Shi, Ru; Shan, Shou-qin; Tian, Jian-quan
2007-01-01
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was given to 264 students in an undergraduate Pharmacy course at a military medical university. Selected MBTI personality types were compared for achievement in the course using a t-test to compare total points earned. High grades were earned by students stronger in the traits of introversion (I) and judgment…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zigerell, James, Ed.
This catalog provides descriptive information about 107 lower-division undergraduate telecourses, usable as self-contained instructional units, produced to be used outside the producer institution, and suitable for use on either open air or cable modes. Course descriptions are provided under the following headings: Adult Skills and Leisure;…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Behar-Horenstein, Linda S.; Johnson, Melissa L.
2010-01-01
To encourage students to seek research opportunities with campus faculty, one large university in the Southeast created a course entitled Science for All. A major goal of the course was to encourage students to work directly with faculty on research projects of their interest. Overall, the findings show that some of the participants began to…
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In, Fan-yu; Liao, Hui-Chuan
2008-01-01
Course designs for Basic English Writing classes vary from one course to another. The objective of this study was to investigate the semantic misinterpretation of English words found in the English compositions written by native-Chinese-speaking undergraduate students and to overcome if such a barrier occurred in the process of writing. First,…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Liau, Albert K.; Kiat, John E.; Nie, Youyan
2015-01-01
The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the pedagogical approaches used in the course were related to improvements in students' attitudes toward statistics in a Quantitative Methods course for psychology undergraduate students in a Malaysian University. The study examined whether increasing availability of the instructor and…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Olimpo, Jeffrey T.; Fisher, Ginger R.; DeChenne-Peters, Sue Ellen
2016-01-01
Within the past decade, course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) have emerged as a viable mechanism to enhance novices' development of scientific reasoning and process skills in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. Recent evidence within the bioeducation literature suggests that student engagement in…
Economic Education in Korea: Current Status and Changes
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hahn, Jinsoo; Jang, Kyungho
2010-01-01
The authors describe key aspects of precollege and undergraduate economic education in Korea. They show that precollege students seem to have low economics literacy due to problems with the curriculum and insufficient training of teachers. At the undergraduate level, they show that economics departments have more male students than female students…
[The physical therapy undergraduate students' responses to the gross human anatomy subjects].
Anahara, Reiko; Kawashiro, Yukiko; Matsuno, Yoshiharu; Mori, Chisato; Kohno, Toshihiko
2008-09-01
Instruction in gross human anatomy is one of the important items in the subject for co-medical students of the physical therapist course. The physical therapy undergraduate students are required to have a solid understanding of the structure and formation of the human body. Therefore, their good-understanding of the course on the gross human anatomy and their experience of the gross human anatomy laboratory (observation practice) are acquired to improve their knowledge of the human body. To clarify the student responses to the gross human anatomy course including the gross human anatomy laboratory, several questionnaires were administered to the freshman physical therapy undergraduate student for two years. We found that more than 80% of the students, who felt a negative attitude for gross human anatomy before the course started, had a positive attitude about the gross human anatomy after going through the course. The experience of the gross human anatomy laboratory increased the students' activity of learning and they thought more about the dignity of being human after the course than before viewing. In addition, the results suggested that the multiple experiences of the gross human anatomy course are useful for the physical therapy undergraduate students to improve the quality of their understanding of the human body.
The Python Project: A Unique Model for Extending Research Opportunities to Undergraduate Students
Harvey, Pamela A.; Wall, Christopher; Luckey, Stephen W.; Langer, Stephen
2014-01-01
Undergraduate science education curricula are traditionally composed of didactic instruction with a small number of laboratory courses that provide introductory training in research techniques. Research on learning methodologies suggests this model is relatively ineffective, whereas participation in independent research projects promotes enhanced knowledge acquisition and improves retention of students in science. However, availability of faculty mentors and limited departmental budgets prevent the majority of students from participating in research. A need therefore exists for this important component in undergraduate education in both small and large university settings. A course was designed to provide students with the opportunity to engage in a research project in a classroom setting. Importantly, the course collaborates with a sponsor's laboratory, producing a symbiotic relationship between the classroom and the laboratory and an evolving course curriculum. Students conduct a novel gene expression study, with their collective data being relevant to the ongoing research project in the sponsor's lab. The success of this course was assessed based on the quality of the data produced by the students, student perception data, student learning gains, and on whether the course promoted interest in and preparation for careers in science. In this paper, we describe the strategies and outcomes of this course, which represents a model for efficiently providing research opportunities to undergraduates. PMID:25452492
Anders, Sven; Fischer-Bruegge, Dorothee; Fabian, Merle; Raupach, Tobias; Petersen-Ewert, Corinna; Harendza, Sigrid
2011-07-15
In undergraduate medical education, the training of post-mortem external examination on dead bodies might evoke strong emotional reactions in medical students that could counteract the intended learning goals. We evaluated student perception of a forensic medicine course, their perceived learning outcome (via self-assessment) and possible tutor-dependent influences on the overall evaluation of the course by a questionnaire-based survey among 150 medical students in Hamburg, Germany. The majority of students identified post-mortem external examination as an important learning objective in undergraduate medical education and did not feel that the dignity of the deceased was offended by the course procedures. After the course, more than 70% of the students felt able to perform an external examination and to fill in a death certificate. Respectful behavior of course tutors towards the deceased entailed better overall course ratings by students (p<0.001). Our findings highlight the importance of factors such as clearly defined learning goals and course standardization (formal curriculum) as well as tutor behavior (informal curriculum) in undergraduate education in forensic medicine. Furthermore, we suggest embedding teaching in forensic medicine in longitudinal curricula on death and dying and on the health consequences of interpersonal violence. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Physics Problems Based on Up-to-Date Science and Technology.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Folan, Lorcan M.; Tsifrinovich, Vladimir I.
2007-03-01
We observe a huge chasm between up-to-date science and undergraduate education. The result of this chasm is that current student interest in undergraduate science is low. Consequently, students who are graduating from college are often unable to take advantage of the many opportunities offered by science and technology. Cutting edge science and technology frequently use the methods learned in undergraduate courses, but up-to-date applications are not normally used as examples or for problems in undergraduate courses. There are many physics problems which contain information about the latest achievements in science and technology. But typically, the level of these problems is too advanced for undergraduates. We created physics problems for undergraduate science and engineering students, which are based on the latest achievements in science and technology. These problems have been successfully used in our courses at the Polytechnic University in New York. We believe that university faculty may suggest such problems in order to provide information about the frontiers of science and technological, demonstrate the importance of undergraduate physics in solving contemporary problems and raise the interest of talented students in science. From the other side, our approach may be considered an indirect way for advertising advanced technologies, which undergraduate students and, even more important, future college graduates could use in their working lives.
Undergraduate education in social and preventive medicine at the University of Rhodesia.
Ross, W F
1975-01-11
Since 1967, the academic discipline of social and preventive medicine has been taught to medical students at the University of Rhodesia. The emphasis has been on the basic principles underlying the epidemiology of disease and the medical services required to suit the needs of Rhodesia. In 1970, a course in medicalsociology and in 1972, a course in pschology were introduced, and these courses havesupplemented the teaching of medicine in general and of social and preventive medicine in particular. The course is examined in some detail and evidence is submitted concerning the particular content and methodology used in this course of instruction for undergraduates. Reference is also made to a scheme of attachment to medical practitioners and a period spent during the final undergraduate year in a rural situation as part of the faculty programme of instruction in community medicine.
Horak, Rachel E. A.; Merkel, Susan; Chang, Amy
2015-01-01
A number of national reports, including Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action, have called for drastic changes in how undergraduate biology is taught. To that end, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) has developed new Curriculum Guidelines for undergraduate microbiology that outline a comprehensive curriculum for any undergraduate introductory microbiology course or program of study. Designed to foster enduring understanding of core microbiology concepts, the Guidelines work synergistically with backwards course design to focus teaching on student-centered goals and priorities. In order to qualitatively assess how the ASM Curriculum Guidelines are used by educators and learn more about the needs of microbiology educators, the ASM Education Board distributed two surveys to the ASM education community. In this report, we discuss the results of these surveys (353 responses). We found that the ASM Curriculum Guidelines are being implemented in many different types of courses at all undergraduate levels. Educators indicated that the ASM Curriculum Guidelines were very helpful when planning courses and assessments. We discuss some specific ways in which the ASM Curriculum Guidelines have been used in undergraduate classrooms. The survey identified some barriers that microbiology educators faced when trying to adopt the ASM Curriculum Guidelines, including lack of time, lack of financial resources, and lack of supporting resources. Given the self-reported challenges to implementing the ASM Curriculum Guidelines in undergraduate classrooms, we identify here some activities related to the ASM Curriculum Guidelines that the ASM Education Board has initiated to assist educators in the implementation process. PMID:25949769
Horak, Rachel E A; Merkel, Susan; Chang, Amy
2015-05-01
A number of national reports, including Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action, have called for drastic changes in how undergraduate biology is taught. To that end, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) has developed new Curriculum Guidelines for undergraduate microbiology that outline a comprehensive curriculum for any undergraduate introductory microbiology course or program of study. Designed to foster enduring understanding of core microbiology concepts, the Guidelines work synergistically with backwards course design to focus teaching on student-centered goals and priorities. In order to qualitatively assess how the ASM Curriculum Guidelines are used by educators and learn more about the needs of microbiology educators, the ASM Education Board distributed two surveys to the ASM education community. In this report, we discuss the results of these surveys (353 responses). We found that the ASM Curriculum Guidelines are being implemented in many different types of courses at all undergraduate levels. Educators indicated that the ASM Curriculum Guidelines were very helpful when planning courses and assessments. We discuss some specific ways in which the ASM Curriculum Guidelines have been used in undergraduate classrooms. The survey identified some barriers that microbiology educators faced when trying to adopt the ASM Curriculum Guidelines, including lack of time, lack of financial resources, and lack of supporting resources. Given the self-reported challenges to implementing the ASM Curriculum Guidelines in undergraduate classrooms, we identify here some activities related to the ASM Curriculum Guidelines that the ASM Education Board has initiated to assist educators in the implementation process.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Partin, Matthew L.; Haney, Jodi J.
2012-01-01
In this study, the following questions were addressed in an undergraduate non-major biology course using a large lecture format: Is there a relationship between students' perceptions of their learning environment and course performance, and what roles do motivation and attitudes play in mediating that relationship? The purpose of this study was to…
Undergraduate Research in the Dartmouth Economics Department
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Feyrer, James
2017-01-01
One of the key components to the undergraduate research enterprise at Dartmouth is the recognition that learning to do research requires both directed instruction and learning by doing. The economics faculty have tailored a fruitful undergraduate research program based on this philosophy, and this article describes these efforts while also…
Learning by Doing: The Challenge of Engaging Undergraduates in Economics Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brunnermeier, Smita
2017-01-01
This article describes strategies developed at Princeton University to foster and promote research by all undergraduate students majoring in economics. It describes core features of the undergraduate research program and provides tangible recommendations for addressing resource constraints, and for incentivizing faculty advisors and students to…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Becker, Claudia A.
The redesign of a course on German business, taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is described. The course, intended for both undergraduate and graduate German majors, initially described and defined German institutions and common business practices and explored differences in historical and cultural backgrounds. Course revision…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Burns, Timothy J.
2011-01-01
There are many factors that make the undergraduate systems analysis and design course somewhat enigmatic in its purpose, and therefore equivocal in its delivery. The purpose of this research is to learn, specifically, what instructors are teaching in their systems analysis and design courses. This paper reports the results of a survey and follow…
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Bosuwon, Takwa; Woodrow, Lindy
2009-01-01
This paper reports on a needs analysis underlying a proposed business English reading course using a problem-based learning approach designed to enhance English reading abilities of Thai undergraduate students. As part of a work in progress, the needs analysis survey was done prior to the course design with the major stakeholders in business and…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goldfarb, Eva S.
2005-01-01
The purpose of this study was to use qualitative evaluation techniques to explore the perceptions of students enrolled in undergraduate human sexuality classes regarding their expectations for the course as well as outcomes. One hundred forty-eight students were surveyed at the beginning and again at the end of the semester long course. While…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brownell, Sara E.; Hekmat-Scafe, Daria S.; Singla, Veena; Seawell, Patricia Chandler; Imam, Jamie F. Conklin; Eddy, Sarah L.; Stearns, Tim; Cyert, Martha S.
2015-01-01
We present an innovative course-based undergraduate research experience curriculum focused on the characterization of single point mutations in p53, a tumor suppressor gene that is mutated in more than 50% of human cancers. This course is required of all introductory biology students, so all biology majors engage in a research project as part of…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hayirsever, Fahriye; Kalayci, Nurdan
2017-01-01
In this study, general culture and general education courses within the scope of knowledge categories in undergraduate teacher education programs in Turkey and the USA are comparatively analyzed. The study is a comparative education study and uses a descriptive model. In the study, the general culture - general education courses taught in the…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Charkoudian, Louise K.; Heymann, Jared J.; Adler, Marc J.; Haas, Kathryn L.; Mies, Kassy A.; Bonk, James F.
2008-01-01
A group of five graduate students and a faculty mentor used the cultural popularity of forensics to develop a first-year undergraduate seminar. This course fulfilled two main objectives: First, the graduate student instructors developed professionally through a two-year process of creating, instructing, and revising a course. Second, a variety of…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rhodes, Darson L.
2009-01-01
A sample of 656 undergraduate students from multiple sections of an introductory nutrition course, a personal health course, and a physical fitness course at a large Midwestern University completed one of four surveys. Using matrix sampling, each participant completed a survey measuring one of four personal and social competence constructs; coping…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vajoczki, S.; Eyles, C. H.; Stewart, J.; Dasilva, L.
2005-12-01
McMaster University is a `research intensive' university with 17,000+ full time undergraduate students. The School of Geography and Earth Sciences (SGES) is located within the Faculty of Science, offers B.Sc., B.A., M.Sc., M.A. and PhD degree programs and teaches more than 70 undergraduate courses on an annual basis. The Honours B.Sc program in Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) graduates approximately 25 students per year. Students enroll in undergraduate SGES programs in their second year, after completion of an introductory first year in the Faculty of Science in which they take compulsory science courses including math, physics, chemistry, and biology. First year students, as well as those in upper years, may also elect to take one or more of three introductory courses offered by SGES (Earth & the Environment, The Living Environment, Atmosphere & Hydrosphere) to complete their science requirements. Most students entering the Faculty of Science know little about geoscience as it does not form an important part of the Ontario secondary school curriculum. Hence, recruitment into the EES program is primarily via the first year courses. In order to establish reasons why students elected to take the introductory courses offered by SGES, and their reasons for considering subsequent entry to the B.Sc program, a survey of students taking one of the courses was conducted in the fall of 2003. Results from the survey indicate that students enroll in the course, and subsequently the EES program, for a variety of reasons including: general interest in how the planet works, concern for the environment, interesting title of the course and reputation of the instructor. Student concern over lack of potential jobs is cited as the main reason for not pursuing a degree in geoscience. This survey has helped to direct the multifaceted recruitment strategies used by SGES to continue to develop its undergraduate program through delivery of high quality first year courses. Additional recruitment strategies used to recruit and retain high quality students include an active undergraduate society and departmental events that contribute towards a culture of learning and sense of belonging that is sought by students.
Economic Growth and Development in the Undergraduate Curriculum
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Acemoglu, Daron
2013-01-01
A central theme of this article is that economics instructors should spend more time teaching about economic growth and development at the undergraduate level because the topic is of interest to students, is less abstract than other macroeconomic topics, and is the focus of exciting research in economics. Facts and data can be presented to…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Larsen, Kristine
2017-06-01
The author discusses a capstone project that utilizes the AAVSO's International Variable Star Index (VSX), ASAS light curves and phase plots, and the SIMBAD astronomical data repository in a laboratory-based undergraduate Stellar and Galactic Astronomy course.
Industrial Chemistry: A Series of New Courses at the Undergraduate Level.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jasinski, Jerry P.; Miller, Robert E.
1985-01-01
Describes four courses in the undergraduate bachelor of science program in industrial chemistry at Keene State College (NH). They are (1) introduction to industrial chemistry; (2) polymers--synthesis and separation techniques; (3) inorganic industrial processes; and (4) organic industrial processes. (JN)
Pathways over Time: Functional Genomics Research in an Introductory Laboratory Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Reeves, Todd D.; Warner, Douglas M.; Ludlow, Larry H.; O'Connor, Clare M.
2018-01-01
National reports have called for the introduction of research experiences throughout the undergraduate curriculum, but practical implementation at many institutions faces challenges associated with sustainability, cost, and large student populations. We describe a novel course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) that introduces…
Introducing Environmental Law in the Undergraduate Curriculum.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Centner, Terence J.; Geyer, L. Leon
1993-01-01
Discusses the development of an undergraduate environmental law course. Initial considerations in course development include the instruction unit, student needs, choice of instructor, and text. Presents materials covered under categories of pollution prevention, conservation and sustainable systems, land use and local government, and cleanup and…
Journal Writing: Enlivening Elementary Linear Algebra.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Meel, David E.
1999-01-01
Examines the various issues surrounding the implementation of journal writing in an undergraduate linear algebra course. Identifies the benefits of incorporating journal writing into an undergraduate mathematics course, which are supported with students' comments from their journals and their reflections on the process. Contains 14 references.…
Academic Performance in MBA Programs: Do Prerequisites Really Matter?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Christensen, Donald Gene; Nance, William R.; White, Darin W.
2012-01-01
Many researchers have examined criteria used in Master of Business Administration (MBA) admissions decisions. However, prior research has not examined predictive ability of undergraduate prerequisite courses in core business disciplines. The authors investigated whether undergraduate prerequisite courses predicted MBA success by analyzing the…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nelson, Philip
To a large extent, undergraduate physical-science curricula remain firmly rooted in pencil-and-paper calculation, despite the fact that most research is done with computers. To a large extent, undergraduate life-science curricula remain firmly rooted in descriptive approaches, despite the fact that much current research involves quantitative modeling. Not only does our pedagogy not reflect current reality; it also creates a spurious barrier between the fields, reinforcing the narrow silos that prevent students from connecting them. I'll describe an intermediate-level course on ``Physical Models of Living Systems.'' The prerequisite is first-year university physics and calculus. The course is a response to rapidly growing interest among undergraduates in a broad range of science and engineering majors. Students acquire several research skills that are often not addressed in traditional undergraduate courses: •Basic modeling skills; •Probabilistic modeling skills; •Data analysis methods; •Computer programming using a general-purpose platform like MATLAB or Python; •Pulling datasets from the Web for analysis; •Data visualization; •Dynamical systems, particularly feedback control. Partially supported by the NSF under Grants EF-0928048 and DMR-0832802.
Oppong, Raymond; Mistry, Hema; Frew, Emma
2013-09-13
In the UK, the General Medical Council clearly stipulates that upon completion of training, medical students should be able to discuss the principles underlying the development of health and health service policy, including issues relating to health economics. In response, researchers from the UK and other countries have called for a need to incorporate health economics training into the undergraduate medical curricula. The Health Economics education website was developed to encourage and support teaching and learning in health economics for medical students. It was designed to function both as a forum for teachers of health economics to communicate and to share resources and also to provide instantaneous access to supporting literature and teaching materials on health economics. The website provides a range of free online material that can be used by both health economists and non-health economists to teach the basic principles of the discipline. The Health Economics education website is the only online education resource that exists for teaching health economics to medical undergraduate students and it provides teachers of health economics with a range of comprehensive basic and advanced teaching materials that are freely available. This article presents the website as a tool to encourage the incorporation of health economics training into the undergraduate medical curricula.
2013-01-01
In the UK, the General Medical Council clearly stipulates that upon completion of training, medical students should be able to discuss the principles underlying the development of health and health service policy, including issues relating to health economics. In response, researchers from the UK and other countries have called for a need to incorporate health economics training into the undergraduate medical curricula. The Health Economics education website was developed to encourage and support teaching and learning in health economics for medical students. It was designed to function both as a forum for teachers of health economics to communicate and to share resources and also to provide instantaneous access to supporting literature and teaching materials on health economics. The website provides a range of free online material that can be used by both health economists and non-health economists to teach the basic principles of the discipline. The Health Economics education website is the only online education resource that exists for teaching health economics to medical undergraduate students and it provides teachers of health economics with a range of comprehensive basic and advanced teaching materials that are freely available. This article presents the website as a tool to encourage the incorporation of health economics training into the undergraduate medical curricula. PMID:24034906
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Al-Ismaily, Said; Al-Maktoumi, Ali; Kacimov, Anvar
2015-04-01
Undergraduates, majoring in soil sciences (SS), have a broad holistic role because SS integrates several intertwined geo-environmental/ecological and socio-economical aspects. Consequently, students have to learn how the information, advice, practices and expertise, pertinent to food security, water shortage, hydropedology, among others amalgamate through SS . Hence, university SS-programs should incorporate public outreach activities. We present experience at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in Oman on how to develop an effective public outreach program that can be implemented by undergraduate students. Our strategy has three components : (i) offering a course Soil and Water Tour (SWAE 4110) of hydropedology nature that integrates field, laboratory-work, and presentation-extension activities; the course is research-oriented and designed to provide opportunities for students to practice their metacognitive abilities and critical thinking; the course is offered by the Department of Soils, Water & Agricultural Engineering (SWAE), (ii) Training and involving the undergraduates in planning and conducting enjoyable, interactive, and effective workshops for school pupils; a training workshop on "Soils" was conducted for pupils (a total 300 participants, grades 7-9) and teachers aiming to unveil the secrets and the role of soil in ecosystems; workshop was organized by the SWAE Students Society (iii) Guiding the undergraduates on the best practice for raising funds for their outreach activities (e.g. the undergraduates secured funds for the workshop on "Soils", which was sponsored by Muscat Municipality, a governmental agency, and several private companies such as HMR Consultants, Metal Engineering L.L.C and Bauer Nimr LLC); SS students were mentored in submission of research proposals to the national research agency (e.g. FURAP program of The Research Council, TRC, WWW.trc.gov.om). The three components were evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively using fixed-response and open-ended questions, interviews, and course evaluation. The analyzed results indicate that the outreach strategies are effective. For component (i) and based on students evaluation for SWAE 4110 collected in 2009-2013 (2 semesters/year) the course had an average rating of 3.6/4.0 while the College average for all sections (about 150/semester) during the same period was 3.3. The majority of the SS-students expressed their appreciation of the type of communication skills and team-work ethics gained, increased confidence, and enjoyment. For component (ii), school pupils feedback (based on 33 questionnaires) showed that more than 90% "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that they have learned new information/secrets about soils and the topics of the workshop enhanced their knowledge and ability to think critically about the role of soils in life. Undersecretary who participated in the Workshop, addressed the Vice Chancellor of SQU seeking the university assistance in adopting the materials of the workshop into school curriculum and encouraging a continuous pedagogical interactive experiments at school scale. For component (iii), a FURAP proposal on urban soils, submitted by students (classmates in SWAE 4110), was ranked N3 among 15 proposals submitted by SQU. The proposal was funded by TRC and received a National Award. Although this paper is oriented towards soil issues, the components, ideas and methodology of our public outreach endeavour can be modified to suit other topics in geosciences. Key words: Public outreach strategies; School pupils; Undergraduates in geosciences; Soil education.
The Undergraduate Origins of PhD Economists
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Siegfried, John J.; Stock, Wendy A.; Walstad, William
2007-01-01
The authors document the types of undergraduate colleges and universities attended by those who earned a doctorate in economics from an American university from 1966 through 2003. They examine relationships between type of undergraduate institution and attrition and time-to-degree in PhD programs. The total number of new economics PhDs awarded to…
DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2008-08-01
This study reports the findings of a project that was done during the implementation of a : problem-based learning (PBL) and cooperative learning (CL) elements into an : undergraduate transportation engineering course. The study procedure used the st...
Integrating Computational Chemistry into the Physical Chemistry Curriculum
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johnson, Lewis E.; Engel, Thomas
2011-01-01
Relatively few undergraduate physical chemistry programs integrate molecular modeling into their quantum mechanics curriculum owing to concerns about limited access to computational facilities, the cost of software, and concerns about increasing the course material. However, modeling exercises can be integrated into an undergraduate course at a…
The Accounting Undergraduate Capstone: Promoting Synthesis, Reflection, Transition, and Competencies
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johnson, Grace F.; Halabi, Abdel K.
2011-01-01
The authors review 24 midwestern institutions that have an undergraduate capstone course. Specifically they focus on accounting capstone courses, discovering that these are used to promote personal and functional skill development in 8 areas: research, problem solving, critical thinking, reflection, synthesis, teamwork, communication, and…
Junior Colloquium: Filling a Gap in Undergraduate Chemical Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Verbit, Lawrence; Madan, Stanley K.
1973-01-01
Describes a one-semester course which consists of undergraduate-oriented talks by faculty members and industrial scientists, reading assignments concerning human elements, and an introduction to chemical literature. Indicates that the course has the flexibility to change as other areas of need are identified. (CC)
Teaching Ecology to Undergraduates: A Practical Course Using Projects.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dangerfield, J. M.; And Others
1987-01-01
Describes how short-term laboratory projects were used to teach population and community ecology to undergraduate environmental science students. Directed students to formulate and implement their own hypotheses and experimental designs. Uses questionnaire results and written reports to assess the contribution of the course to student…
Black Hole Thermodynamics in an Undergraduate Thermodynamics Course.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Parker, Barry R.; McLeod, Robert J.
1980-01-01
An analogy, which has been drawn between black hole physics and thermodynamics, is mathematically broadened in this article. Equations similar to the standard partial differential relations of thermodynamics are found for black holes. The results can be used to supplement an undergraduate thermodynamics course. (Author/SK)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stephens, Julie L.
2001-01-01
Explores the role of a course on Spanish cinema in an undergraduate, university-level curriculum in terms of its potential to acquaint students with significant cultural issues and to develop language skills. (Author/VWL)
Comparing Assessment Methods in Undergraduate Statistics Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Baxter, Sarah E.
2017-01-01
The purpose of this study was to compare undergraduate students' academic performance and attitudes about statistics in the context of two different types of assessment structures for an introductory statistics course. One assessment structure used in-class quizzes that emphasized computation and procedural fluency as well as vocabulary…
Understanding Faculty Perceptions in Undergraduate Online Math Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bertram, Mary
2017-01-01
The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study was to understand how online undergraduate math instructors perceive student learning in the online learning environment. With significantly higher attrition rates in online math courses, researchers should seek to identify instructional elements that could potentially lead to increased…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Philipp, Stephanie B.; Tretter, Thomas; Rich, Christine V.
2016-01-01
This study examined the development of peer mentoring skills and deepening of content knowledge by trained and supported undergraduate teaching assistants working with students in entry-level STEM courses across nine departments at a large research-intensive U.S. university.
Effectiveness, Teaching, and Assessments: Survey Evidence from Finance Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lai, Ming Ming; Kwan, Jing Hui; Kadir, Hazlina Abdul; Abdullah, Mahdhir; Yap, Voon Choong
2010-01-01
The present article examines the effectiveness, teaching, assessment methods, and the importance of finance concepts in three undergraduate finance courses in a private university in Malaysia. Approximately 224 undergraduates (finance majors) were surveyed and demonstrated positive attitudes toward the effectiveness of the finance subjects. The…
The special study module: a novel approach to undergraduate teaching in occupational medicine.
Fletcher, G; Agius, R M
1995-12-01
Difficulties in teaching occupational medicine to undergraduates stem from the reduced availability of teaching time and the perception of the specialty. Recent changes in the General Medical Council curricular framework have permitted the development of a special study module (options course) in occupational medicine, in which a small number of motivated undergraduates elected to participate and which was adequately resourced. This course laid particular emphasis on changing students' attitudes towards the specialty, self-learning techniques, problem-solving and other skills such as workplace assessment. The objectives, content and teaching methods of the course are described, as is a preliminary evaluation. It is suggested that other medical schools should adopt and refine this approach in order to improve the quality of undergraduate training in at least a proportion of the output of medical schools.
Round, Jennifer; Lom, Barbara
2015-01-01
Undergraduate courses in the life sciences at most colleges and universities are traditionally composed of two or three weekly sessions in a classroom supplemented with a weekly three-hour session in a laboratory. We have found that many undergraduates can have difficulty making connections and/or transferring knowledge between lab activities and lecture material. Consequently, we are actively developing ways to decrease the physical and intellectual divides between lecture and lab to help students make more direct links between what they learn in the classroom and what they learn in the lab. In this article we discuss our experiences teaching fused laboratory biology courses that intentionally blurred the distinctions between lab and lecture to provide undergraduates with immersive experiences in science that promote discovery and understanding. PMID:26240531
Establishing common course objectives for undergraduate exercise physiology.
Simonson, Shawn R
2015-12-01
Undergraduate exercise physiology is a ubiquitous course in undergraduate kinesiology/exercise science programs with a broad scope and depth of topics. It is valuable to explore what is taught within this course. The purpose of the present study was to facilitate an understanding of what instructors teach in undergraduate exercise physiology, how it compares with various guidelines, and to continue the conversation regarding what should be taught. A survey was created using course outcomes from the American Society of Exercise Physiologists, National Association for Sport and Physical Education, Ivy's 2007 Quest article, the National Athletic Training Association, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, and 36 undergraduate exercise physiology course syllabi. The 134-item survey was disseminated to individuals who use exercise physiology: university faculty members, clinical exercise physiologists, researchers, and other practitioners on various exercise physiology lists; 2,009 surveys were sent, and 322 surveys were completed (16% rate of return). There was a high degree of agreement about a lot of important content in undergraduate exercise physiology. Instructors of exercise physiology should focus their curriculum on regulation and homeostasis (including adaptation, fatigue, and recovery), aerobic systems, bioenergetics, muscle physiology, and fitness principles. In addition, attention should be paid to performance and technical skills. In conclusion, it is up to exercise physiologists to ensure quality of knowledge and practice. Doing so will improve the uniformity and quality of practitioners within the various kinesiology/exercise science fields and increase the value of a Kinesiology/Exercise Science degree and set it apart from other healthcare providers and fitness professionals. Copyright © 2015 The American Physiological Society.
A Cross-cultural Study of the Back Pain Beliefs of Female Undergraduate Healthcare Students.
Burnett, Angus; Sze, Ching Ching; Tam, Suet May; Yeung, Ka Man; Leong, Michelle; Wang, Wendy Tj; Tan, B-K; O'sullivan, Peter
2009-01-01
To determine if country (Australia, Taiwan, Singapore), undergraduate healthcare course (physiotherapy, nursing), low back pain (LBP) history, and year of course influenced various back pain beliefs in undergraduate female healthcare students. Three hundred and 82 female undergraduate nursing and physiotherapy students completed questionnaires examining; the inevitability of future life with low back trouble, the LBP beliefs held by healthcare providers and fear avoidance beliefs related to physical activity. Also participants completed questionnaires to determine their LBP status. General linear models were used to determine whether differences existed for back beliefs scores. Differences were evident in the future consequence of LBP between countries (P<0.001), undergraduate course (P<0.001), and LBP status (P=0.021). Healthcare provider beliefs were found to be significantly influenced by course only (P<0.001). Fear avoidance beliefs related to physical activity were influenced by country (P=0.002) and undergraduate course (P<0.001). When compared with white Australians, Taiwanese and Singaporean Chinese displayed more negative back beliefs regarding the future consequence of LBP (P<0.001) and more fear avoidant beliefs toward physical activity (P=0.021 and P<0.001, respectively). Further, nursing students had more negative back pain beliefs than physiotherapy students (P<0.001) and, the experience of LBP was associated with more positive beliefs on the future consequence of back trouble (P=0.021). Findings of this study highlight the importance of country, education, and LBP experience on back pain beliefs. The more negative back pain beliefs found in Taiwan and Singapore may reflect current pain beliefs and management attitudes.
The Use of Economic Impact Studies as a Service Learning Tool in Undergraduate Business Programs
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Misner, John M.
2004-01-01
This paper examines the use of community based economic impact studies as service learning tools for undergraduate business programs. Economic impact studies are used to measure the economic benefits of a variety of activities such as community redevelopment, tourism, and expansions of existing facilities for both private and public producers.…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Asano, Tadayoshi; Yamaoka, Michio
2015-01-01
The authors administered a Japanese version of the Test of Understanding in College Economics, the fourth edition (TUCE-4) to assess the economic literacy of Japanese undergraduate students in 2006 and 2009. These two test results were combined to investigate students' cognitive process or reasoning with specific economic concepts and principles…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Burns, Timothy J.
2012-01-01
This paper reports the results of a survey and follow-up interviews that were administered to instructors of the undergraduate systems analysis and design course, a core course of the Information Systems curriculum. The goal of this research was to learn if the background of the instructor, in terms of industry experience, affects the purpose and…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Henry, Holly R.; Tawfik, Andrew A.; Jonassen, David H.; Winholtz, Robert A.; Khanna, Sanjeev
2012-01-01
This qualitative case study examines the initial implementation of a problem-based version of an undergraduate course in materials science for the purpose of identifying areas of improvement to the curriculum prior to a planned second implementation. The course was designed around problems that students work in small teams to solve under the…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zhan, Zehui; Xu, Fuyin; Ye, Huiwen
2011-01-01
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an Online Learning Community (OLC) on active and reflective learners' learning performance and attitude in a face-to-face undergraduate digital design course. 814 freshmen in an introductory digital design course were randomly assigned to one of two treatments: one offered students an OLC,…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lazzeri, Santos; Cabezas, Ximena; Ojeda, Luis; Leiva, Francisca
2015-01-01
This study assesses the impact of computer-based formative evaluations in an undergraduate English course for second semester kinesiology students at the Universidad Austral de Chile-Valdivia (UACh). The target of the course is to improve the students' online reading comprehension skills in their field. A preliminary study was carried out in order…
SEMS: System for Environmental Monitoring and Sustainability
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Arvidson, Raymond E.
1998-01-01
The goal of this project was to establish a computational and data management system, SEMS, building on our existing system and MTPE-related research. We proposed that the new system would help support Washington University's efforts in environmental sustainability through use in: (a) Problem-based environmental curriculum for freshmen and sophomores funded by the Hewlett Foundation that integrates scientific, cultural, and policy perspectives to understand the dynamics of wetland degradation, deforestation, and desertification and that will develop policies for sustainable environments and economies; (b) Higher-level undergraduate and graduate courses focused on monitoring the environment and developing policies that will lead to sustainable environmental and economic conditions; and (c) Interdisciplinary research focused on the dynamics of the Missouri River system and development of policies that lead to sustainable environmental and economic floodplain conditions.
Population flows in an international context.
Regulska, J; Vural, L
1987-01-01
The authors feel that geography courses have been remiss in examining migration in its international context and in discussing its global implications. They have constructed this 6-lecture teaching module that addresses the economic, political, and social ramifications of international migration, in addition to the geographical dimension. The module is geared to undergraduate studies in human, social, or population geography, sociology, economics, and political science. Each of the lectures outlined includes special topics for emphasis, supplementary audiovisual materials, and suggested readings. Lectures include: 1) The Importance and Global Effects of International Population Flows; 2) Guest Workers -- Migration of People with Limited Skills; 3) Brain Drain -- Migration of Highly Skilled Professionals; 4) Political Causes of International Migration: Refugee Movement; 5) Refugee Women -- Displaced Majority; and 6) Comparison of Immigration and Refugee Policy in the US and Canada.
An Undergraduate Nanotechnology Engineering Laboratory Course on Atomic Force Microscopy
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Russo, D.; Fagan, R. D.; Hesjedal, T.
2011-01-01
The University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, is home to North America's first undergraduate program in nanotechnology. As part of the Nanotechnology Engineering degree program, a scanning probe microscopy (SPM)-based laboratory has been developed for students in their fourth year. The one-term laboratory course "Nanoprobing and…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Larsen, K.
2017-12-01
(Abstract only) The author discusses a capstone project that utilizes the AAVSO's International Variable Star Index (VSX), ASAS light curves and phase plots, and the SIMBAD astronomical data repository in a laboratory-based undergraduate Stellar and Galactic Astronomy course.
Slope Stability. CEGS Programs Publication Number 15.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pestrong, Raymond
Slope Stability is one in a series of single-topic problem modules intended for use in undergraduate and earth science courses. The module, also appropriate for use in undergraduate civil engineering and engineering geology courses, is a self-standing introduction to studies of slope stability. It has been designed to supplement standard…
Methods for Introducing Inorganic Polymer Concepts throughout the Undergraduate Curriculum
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
de Lill, Daniel T.; Carraher, Charles E., Jr.
2017-01-01
Inorganic polymers can be introduced in a variety of undergraduate courses to discuss concepts related to polymer chemistry. Inorganic polymers such as silicates and polysiloxanes are simple materials that can be incorporated into an introductory or descriptive inorganic course. Polymers based on inorganic carbon, including diamond and graphite,…
The Teaching of Undergraduate Health Psychology: A National Survey
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Panjwani, Aliza A.; Gurung, Regan A. R.; Revenson, Tracey A.
2017-01-01
We conducted an online national survey to examine how undergraduate health psychology is taught, offer information about course design and content, and provide a needs analysis. Health psychology instructors (N = 126) answered questions about course format, teaching tools, importance of covering specific topics, and needed resources. A principal…
Starting with Worldviews: A Five-Step Preparatory Approach to Integrative Interdisciplinary Learning
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Augsburg, Tanya; Chitewere, Tendai
2013-01-01
In this article we propose a five-step sequenced approach to integrative interdisciplinary learning in undergraduate gateway courses. Drawing from the literature of interdisciplinarity, transformative learning theory, and theories of reflective learning, we utilize a sequence of five steps early in our respective undergraduate gateway courses to…
Computer, Video, and Rapid-Cycling Plant Projects in an Undergraduate Plant Breeding Course.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Michaels, T. E.
1993-01-01
Studies the perceived effectiveness of four student projects involving videotape production, computer conferencing, microcomputer simulation, and rapid-cycling Brassica breeding for undergraduate plant breeding students in two course offerings in consecutive years. Linking of the computer conferencing and video projects improved the rating of the…
Resident Graduate Charges at California's Public Universities. Factsheet 07-02
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
California Postsecondary Education Commission, 2007
2007-01-01
California charges students enrolled in academic graduate degree programs more to attend the State's public universities than it charges undergraduate students. The rationale for this differential stems from two principle factors. First, providing graduate courses is generally more expensive than the cost of providing undergraduate courses.…
Resident Graduate Charges at California's Public Universities. Factsheet 05-02
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
California Postsecondary Education Commission, 2005
2005-01-01
California charges students enrolled in academic graduate degree programs more to attend the State's public universities than it charges undergraduate students. The rationale for this differential stems from two principle factors. First, providing graduate courses is--on average--more expensive than the cost of providing undergraduate courses.…
Nationwide Survey of the Undergraduate Physical Chemistry Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fox, Laura J.; Roehrig, Gillian H.
2015-01-01
A nationwide survey of the undergraduate physical chemistry course was conducted to investigate the depth and breadth of content that is covered, how content is delivered, how student understanding is assessed, and the experiences and beliefs of instructors. The survey was administered to instructors of physical chemistry (N = 331) at American…
Efficient Optoelectronics Teaching in Undergraduate Engineering Curriculum
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Matin, M. A.
2005-01-01
The Engineering Department's vision for undergraduate education for the next century is to develop a set of laboratory experiences that are thoughtfully sequenced and integrated to promote the full development of students in all courses. Optoelectronics is one of the most important and most demanding courses in Electrical and Computer Engineering.…
Literary Discussions and Advanced Speaking Functions: Researching the (Dis)Connection
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Donato, Richard; Brooks, Frank B.
2004-01-01
This study investigated the discourse of class discussion in the advanced undergraduate Spanish literature course. Motivating this study was the need for research to determine how discussion in advanced undergraduate literature courses provides discourse opportunities to students to develop advanced language functions, as defined in the ACTFL…
A Portable Bioinformatics Course for Upper-Division Undergraduate Curriculum in Sciences
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Floraino, Wely B.
2008-01-01
This article discusses the challenges that bioinformatics education is facing and describes a bioinformatics course that is successfully taught at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, to the fourth year undergraduate students in biological sciences, chemistry, and computer science. Information on lecture and computer practice…
An Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Course on Computer Organization.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Commission on Engineering Education, Washington, DC.
Outlined is an undergraduate electrical engineering course on computer organization designed to meet the need for electrical engineers familiar with digital system design. The program includes both hardware and software aspects of digital systems essential to design function and correlates design and organizational aspects of the subject. The…
Role of Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) in an Introductory Computer Concepts Course.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Skudrna, Vincent J.
1997-01-01
Discusses the role of computer assisted instruction (CAI) in undergraduate education via a survey of related literature and specific applications. Describes an undergraduate computer concepts course and includes appendices of instructions, flowcharts, programs, sample student work in accounting, COBOL instructional model, decision logic in a…
A Writing-Intensive, Methods-Based Laboratory Course for Undergraduates
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Colabroy, Keri L.
2011-01-01
Engaging undergraduate students in designing and executing original research should not only be accompanied by technique training but also intentional instruction in the critical analysis and writing of scientific literature. The course described here takes a rigorous approach to scientific reading and writing using primary literature as the model…
Introductory Anatomy and Physiology in an Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brown, S. J.; White, S.; Power, N.
2017-01-01
Using an educational data mining approach, first-year academic achievement of undergraduate nursing students, which included two compulsory courses in introductory human anatomy and physiology, was compared with achievement in a final semester course that transitioned students into the workplace. We hypothesized that students could be grouped…
Teaching Undergraduate Mathematics Using CAS Technology: Issues and Prospects
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tobin, Patrick C.; Weiss, Vida
2016-01-01
The use of handheld CAS technology in undergraduate mathematics courses in Australia is paradoxically shrinking under sustained disapproval or disdain from the professional mathematics community. Mathematics education specialists argue with their mathematics colleagues over a range of issues in course development and this use of CAS or even…
Chaos: A Mathematical Introduction
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Banks, John; Dragan, Valentina; Jones, Arthur
2003-06-01
This text presents concepts on chaos in discrete time dynamics that are accessible to anyone who has taken a first course in undergraduate calculus. Retaining its commitment to mathematical integrity, the book, originating in a popular one-semester middle level undergraduate course, constitutes the first elementary presentation of a traditionally advanced subject.
Service Learning to Promote Brain-Based Learning in Undergraduate Teaching
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nwokah, Eva E.; Leafblad, Stefanie
2013-01-01
In this study 44 undergraduate students in a language development course participated in service learning with preschool homeless and low-income children as a course requirement. Students completed a survey, questionnaires, reflective journaling, and small-group debriefing sessions. Based on current views on brain-based learning from cortical…
Mathematical Modeling in the Undergraduate Curriculum
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Toews, Carl
2012-01-01
Mathematical modeling occupies an unusual space in the undergraduate mathematics curriculum: typically an "advanced" course, it nonetheless has little to do with formal proof, the usual hallmark of advanced mathematics. Mathematics departments are thus forced to decide what role they want the modeling course to play, both as a component of the…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rowe, Laura
2017-01-01
An introductory bioinformatics laboratory experiment focused on protein analysis has been developed that is suitable for undergraduate students in introductory biochemistry courses. The laboratory experiment is designed to be potentially used as a "stand-alone" activity in which students are introduced to basic bioinformatics tools and…
The Story of Them: Outcomes of Practicing Autoethnography in Undergraduate Writing Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hopkins, Justin B.
2017-01-01
This study is an examination of the outcomes of practicing autoethnography, specifically in the context of first-year undergraduate, writing-intensive courses. The researcher recounts his initial, inspiring encounter with autoethnography and explores the possibility of its pedagogical application in composition instruction. Autoethnography is a…
Taking the Pulse of Undergraduate Health Psychology: A Nationwide Survey
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brack, Amy Badura; Kesitilwe, Kutlo; Ware, Mark E.
2010-01-01
We conducted a random national survey of 100 doctoral, 100 comprehensive, and 100 baccalaureate institutions to determine the current state of the undergraduate health psychology course. We found clear evidence of a maturing course with much greater commonality in name (health psychology), theoretical foundation (the biopsychosocial model), and…
A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience Investigating p300 Bromodomain Mutations
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shanle, Erin K.; Tsun, Ian K.; Strahl, Brian D.
2016-01-01
Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) provide an opportunity for students to engage in experiments with outcomes that are unknown to both the instructor and students. These experiences allow students and instructors to collaboratively bridge the research laboratory and classroom, and provide research experiences for a large…
Teaching Ethnic Psychology to Undergraduates: Course Development, Delivery, and Evaluation.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Romero, Dan; And Others
This paper discusses the development, delivery, and evaluation of university undergraduate courses in ethnic psychology, which is defined as research and literature about four major racial/ethnic minority groups, Asian American/Pacific Islanders, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans. Following a brief history of the role of…
34 CFR 691.6 - Duration of student eligibility-undergraduate course of study.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-07-01
... 34 Education 4 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Duration of student eligibility-undergraduate course of study. 691.6 Section 691.6 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued) OFFICE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (CONTINUED) ACADEMIC COMPETITIVENESS...
34 CFR 691.6 - Duration of student eligibility-undergraduate course of study.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-07-01
... 34 Education 4 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Duration of student eligibility-undergraduate course of study. 691.6 Section 691.6 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued) OFFICE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (CONTINUED) ACADEMIC COMPETITIVENESS...
34 CFR 691.6 - Duration of student eligibility-undergraduate course of study.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-07-01
... 34 Education 4 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Duration of student eligibility-undergraduate course of study. 691.6 Section 691.6 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued) OFFICE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (CONTINUED) ACADEMIC COMPETITIVENESS...
34 CFR 691.6 - Duration of student eligibility-undergraduate course of study.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-07-01
... 34 Education 4 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Duration of student eligibility-undergraduate course of study. 691.6 Section 691.6 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued) OFFICE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (CONTINUED) ACADEMIC COMPETITIVENESS...
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lee, H. H.; and others
1970-01-01
Describes two laboratory exercises adopted from current research papers for use in an undergraduate developmental biology course. Gives methods, summary of student results, and student comments. Lists lecture topics, text and reprint assignments, and laboratory exercises for course. (EB)
Virtual Solar System Project: Building Understanding through Model Building.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Barab, Sasha A.; Hay, Kenneth E.; Barnett, Michael; Keating, Thomas
2000-01-01
Describes an introductory astronomy course for undergraduate students in which students use three-dimensional (3-D) modeling tools to model the solar system and develop rich understandings of astronomical phenomena. Indicates that 3-D modeling can be used effectively in regular undergraduate university courses as a tool to develop understandings…
A Methods-Based Biotechnology Course for Undergraduates
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chakrabarti, Debopam
2009-01-01
This new course in biotechnology for upper division undergraduates provides a comprehensive overview of the process of drug discovery that is relevant to biopharmaceutical industry. The laboratory exercises train students in both cell-free and cell-based assays. Oral presentations by the students delve into recent progress in drug discovery.…
Six Classroom Exercises to Teach Natural Selection to Undergraduate Biology Students
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kalinowski, Steven T.; Leonard, Mary J.; Andrews, Tessa M.; Litt, Andrea R.
2013-01-01
Students in introductory biology courses frequently have misconceptions regarding natural selection. In this paper, we describe six activities that biology instructors can use to teach undergraduate students in introductory biology courses how natural selection causes evolution. These activities begin with a lesson introducing students to natural…
Chinese University EFL Undergraduate Students' Perceptions towards EGAP Reading and Writing Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Du, Ning; Chen, Jianhua; Liu, Meihua
2016-01-01
The present study examined how undergraduate students from a prestigious Chinese university perceived the teaching and learning of English for general academic purposes (EGAP) reading and writing courses. Analyses of 951 questionnaires revealed that most participants generally (strongly) believed that learning general academic English was closely…
Situated Learning with Online Portfolios, Classroom Websites and Facebook
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shaltry, Chris; Henriksen, Danah; Wu, Min Lun; Dickson, W. Patrick
2013-01-01
In this article we describe the evolution of an elective course designed specifically for undergraduate students in our pre-service teacher education program. This course is intended to prepare these undergraduate students as future teachers--helping them to make effective and creative uses of technology in learning settings. This course…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rabanaque, Samuel; Martinez-Fernandez, J. Reinaldo
2009-01-01
Three conceptions of learning (rote, interpretative and constructive), and two aspects of motivation (level and value of motivation) were identified in 258 Spanish psychology undergraduates classified in three different academic levels (initial, intermediate and final course). Results about conceptions of learning showed final-course students are…
Craft, Judy A; Hudson, Peter B; Plenderleith, Mark B; Gordon, Christopher J
2017-06-01
To explore new graduate registered nurses' reflections of bioscience courses during their nursing programme and the relationship between bioscience content and their clinical practice. Undergraduate nursing students internationally find bioscience courses challenging, which may be due to the volume of content and level of difficulty of these courses. Such challenges may be exacerbated by insufficient integration between bioscience theory and nursing clinical practice. A descriptive, cross-sectional mixed methods study was conducted. A 30-item questionnaire with five written response questions which explored recently registered nurses' reflections on bioscience courses during their nursing degree was employed. Descriptive analyses were reported for individual items. Thematic analysis of qualitative responses was grouped to reveal emerging themes. Registered nurses' (n = 22) reflections revealed that bioscience courses were a significant challenge during their undergraduate programme, and they lacked confidence explaining the biological basis of nursing. Participants would like improved knowledge of the relevant bioscience for nursing and agreed that bioscience courses should be extended into the undergraduate final year. The importance of relating bioscience content to nursing practice was elaborated extensively throughout written responses. Although registered nurses reflected that bioscience courses were difficult with large volumes of content, having more bioscience with greater relevance to nursing applications was considered important in their current clinical practice. It is suggested that bioscience academics develop greater contextual links between bioscience content and clinical practice relevant to nursing. After working as a registered nurse, there was appreciation of bioscience relevance for clinical practice, and the nurses believed they would have benefitted from more nursing-related bioscience during their undergraduate programme. Focussed integration of bioscience with clinical nursing courses should be driven by academics, nurse educators and clinical nurses to provide a biological basis for patient care to nursing students. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Coetzee, Tanya; Hoffmann, Willem A; de Roubaix, Malcolm
2015-10-01
The amended research ethics policy at a South African University required the ethics review of undergraduate research projects, prompting the need to explore the content and teaching approach of research ethics education in health science undergraduate programs. Two qualitative data collection strategies were used: document analysis (syllabi and study guides) and semi-structured interviews with research methodology coordinators. Five main themes emerged: (a) timing of research ethics courses, (b) research ethics course content, (c) sub-optimal use of creative classroom activities to facilitate research ethics lectures, (d) understanding the need for undergraduate project research ethics review, and (e) research ethics capacity training for research methodology lecturers and undergraduate project supervisors. © The Author(s) 2015.
Schulte, Stephanie J
2008-01-01
Integration of information literacy as a core component into a new online undergraduate nursing course proved to be a learning experience in course design and teaching. This article describes the framework for the course design that combined cultural competency, informatics, and information literacy and was grounded in informatics competencies for nurses at the beginning level, an informatics textbook, and the Neurnan Systems Model. The librarian's role in this process and the information literacy unit's content and written assignment are detailed, and challenges in the collaboration are also addressed.
An intermediate-level course on Biological Physics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nelson, Phil
2004-03-01
I describe both undergraduate and graduate 1-semester courses designed to give a survey of Biological Physics. The courses cover classical as well as recent topics. The undergraduate version requires calculus-based first-year physics as its prerequisite. With this level of assumed background, we can arrive at topics such as molecular motors, manipulation of single molecules, and the propagation of nerve impulses. Students majoring in physics, chemistry, biochemistry, and every engineering major (as well as a few in biology), end up taking this course. The graduate course covers the same material but includes exercises with symbolic mathematics packages and data modeling.
The Undergraduate Origins of PhD Economists Revisited
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stock, Wendy A.; Siegfried, John J.
2015-01-01
The authors update prior analyses of the undergraduate origins of individuals who earn a PhD in economics in the United States. They include the list of the top institutions worldwide graduating the largest number of undergraduates who subsequently earn an economics PhD from a U.S. university and lists of American institutions with the largest…
Wright, Shirley J
2012-01-01
Several programs in health professional education require or are considering requiring upper-level human anatomy as prerequisite for their applicants. Undergraduate students are confronted with few institutions offering such a course, in part because of the expense and logistical issues associated with a cadaver-based human anatomy course. This study describes the development of and student reactions to an upper-level human anatomy laboratory course for undergraduate students that used a regional approach and contemporary, alternative teaching methods to a cadaver-based course. The alternative pedagogy to deliver the curriculum included use of commercially available, three-dimensional anatomical virtual dissection software, anatomical models coupled with a learning management system to offer Web-based learning, and a new laboratory manual with collaborative exercises designed to develop the student's anatomical skills and collaborative team skills. A Likert-scale survey with open-ended questions was used to ascertain student perceptions of the course and its various aspects. Students perceived that the noncadaver-based, upper-level human anatomy course with an engaging, regional approach is highly valuable in their learning of anatomy. anatomy. Copyright © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.
Religion and mythology in a sample of undergraduate psychology of women courses.
Taylor, Christina J; Galasso, Rosemarie
2008-10-01
The coverage of religion and mythology in undergraduate courses in the Psychology of Women was explored by (a) surveying a sample of undergraduate instructors (N=72); and (b) examining coverage in textbooks on the Psychology of Women (N=95). 48.6% of teachers said they include some coverage, while 43.1% said they never do. The total percentage of coverage in textbooks is small, ranging from a mean of 2.0% in the 1970s to 1.1% in the current decade.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Al-Ismaily, Said; Kacimov, Anvar; Al-Maktoumi, Ali
2016-04-01
Three strategies in a soil science undergraduate programme with inquiry-based learning (IBL) principles at Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, are presented. The first strategy scaffolds courses into three phases: with direct instructional guidance, structured IBL, and finally, guided to open IBL. The second strategy involves extra-curricular activities of undergraduates, viz. conducting workshops on soils for pupils in grades 7-9 with their teachers. The third strategy promotes the teaching-research nexus through collaboration between the undergraduates and faculty within a student-supporting, government-funded programme through 1-year long research grants of up to 5,500 US/project. The efficiency of the strategies was evaluated by students' evaluations of courses and instructors and questionnaire-based surveys. Statistics of students' responses in teaching evaluations of IBL courses showed a significantly higher level of satisfaction compared with regular courses taught in the department and college. In surveys of other constituencies of the program, viz. the secondary schools, more than 90% of respondents "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that they had learned new information/secrets about soils. The indicators of success in the third strategy are: winning a highly competitive grant and, moreover, earning an even more competitive annual national award for the best executed research project. The two top graduates of the IBL soil programme progressed into the MSc programme with the university and national scholarships. Key words: inquiry based learning, soil science undergraduate program, scaffold of courses, outreach activities, teaching-research nexus, evaluation of program's efficiency
Undergraduate Economics Journals: Learning by Doing
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Leekley, Robert M.; Davis-Kahl, Stephanie; Seeborg, Michael C.
2013-01-01
Although there are currently only a few undergraduate journals in economics, we expect their numbers to increase substantially in the future because of several developments: (1) research and writing activity is increasing in economics programs, (2) online publication is now more feasible and cost efficient than ever, and (3) students are…
NSF Support for Physics at the Undergraduate Level: A View from Inside
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
McBride, Duncan
2015-03-01
NSF has supported a wide range of projects in physics that involve undergraduate students. These projects include NSF research grants in which undergraduates participate; Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) centers and supplements; and education grants that range from upper-division labs that may include research, to curriculum development for upper- and lower-level courses and labs, to courses for non-majors, to Physics Education Research (PER). The NSF Divisions of Physics, Materials Research, and Astronomy provide most of the disciplinary research support, with some from other parts of NSF. I recently retired as the permanent physicist in NSF's Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE), which supports the education grants. I was responsible for a majority of DUE's physics grants and was involved with others overseen by a series of physics rotators. There I worked in programs entitled Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement (ILI); Course and Curriculum Development (CCD); Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI); Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education (TUES); and Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE). NSF support has enabled physics Principal Investigators to change and improve substantially the way physics is taught and the way students learn physics. The most important changes are increased undergraduate participation in physics research; more teaching using interactive engagement methods in classes; and growth of PER as a legitimate field of physics research as well as outcomes from PER that guide physics teaching. In turn these have led, along with other factors, to students who are better-prepared for graduate school and work, and to increases in the number of undergraduate physics majors. In addition, students in disciplines that physics directly supports, notably engineering and chemistry, and increasingly biology, are better and more broadly prepared to use their physics education in these fields. I will describe NSF support for undergraduate physics with both statistics and examples. In addition I will talk about trends in support for undergraduate physics at NSF and speculate about directions such support might go. Contents of this paper reflect the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McKenzie, Nancy; McNulty, James; McLeod, David; McFadden, Meghan; Balachandran, Naresh
2012-01-01
A new undergraduate program in chemical biology was launched in 2008 to provide a unique learning experience for those students interested in this interdisciplinary science. An innovative undergraduate chemical biology laboratory course at the third-year level was developed as a key component of the curriculum. The laboratory course introduces…
Currently available medical engineering degrees in the UK. Part 1: Undergraduate degrees.
Joyce, T
2009-05-01
This paper reviews mechanical-engineering-based medical engineering degrees which are currently provided at undergraduate level in the UK. At present there are 14 undergraduate degree programmes in medical engineering, offered by the University of Bath, University of Birmingham, University of Bradford, Cardiff University, University of Hull, Imperial College London, University of Leeds, University of Nottingham, University of Oxford, Queen Mary University of London, University of Sheffield, University of Southampton, University of Surrey, and Swansea University. All these undergraduate courses are delivered on a full-time basis, both 3 year BEng and 4 year MEng degrees. Half of the 14 degree courses share a core first 2 years with a mechanical engineering stream. The other seven programmes include medical engineering modules earlier in their degrees. Within the courses, a very wide range of medical-engineering-related modules are offered, although more common modules include biomaterials, biomechanics, and anatomy and physiology.
Inorganic Chemistry at the Undergraduate Level: Are We All on the Same Page?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pesterfield, Les L.; Henrickson, Charles H.
2001-01-01
Summarizes and presents results of a national survey on undergraduate inorganic chemistry which asked faculty to describe the general layout of their undergraduate program and course content. Reveals both similarities in the structure of undergraduate inorganic chemistry programs across the country and diversity in content. (ASK)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Russell, James E.; D'Costa, Allison R.; Runck, Clay; Barnes, David W.; Barrera, Alessandra L.; Hurst-Kennedy, Jennifer; Sudduth, Elizabeth B.; Quinlan, Erin L.; Schlueter, Mark
2015-01-01
The traditional undergraduate program of study incorporates a selection of classes that represent a broad spectrum of subdisciplines. Unfortunately, few curricula successfully integrate concepts in all subdisciplines, giving undergraduates the misconception that there is a lack of application or connectedness between class subjects. An integrated…
A course treating ethical issues in physics.
Thomsen, Marshall
2007-03-01
A course focusing on ethical issues in physics has been taught to undergraduate students at Eastern Michigan University since 1988. The course covers both responsible conduct of research and ethical issues associated with how physicists interact with the rest of society. Since most undergraduate physics majors will not have a career in academia, it is important that a course such as this address issues that will be relevant to physicists in a wide range of job situations. There is a wealth of published work that can be drawn on for reading assignments.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Riihimaki, C. A.; Sealfon, C. D.; Paine, E. N.; O'Donnell, F. C.; Caylor, K. K.; Wilcove, D. S.
2012-12-01
The Science and Engineering Education Initiative at Princeton University aims to inspire and prepare all undergraduates, irrespective of their majors, to become scientifically and technologically literate citizens and decision-makers. Launched by the faculty on the Council on Science and Technology in September 2011, the initiative involves revising and creating science and engineering courses that emphasize the role of science in society. The course "Fundamentals of Environmental Studies" will serve as a model course for the initiative starting with revisions to the course in Fall 2012. Given the general interest undergraduates have for sustainability topics and the obvious connections between sustainability and society, this course should generate ample interest from students across the campus. We have begun the Initiative by defining student-centered learning goals and surveying students' attitudes towards science and engineering. Course by course, we are also gradually applying research-based teaching methods to better align course activities with learning goals, assessing learning gains, and creating a repository of successful methods and courses. Among the changes to "Fundamentals of Environmental Studies" will be a greater emphasis on science communication, such as incorporating an assignment in which students track the evolution of communicating a research project, from journal article to newspaper coverage to editorials.
Morris, Simon; Osborne, Max Sallis; Bowyer, Duncan
2018-05-11
To assess the effect of near-peer head and neck anatomy teaching on undergraduates and to quantify the benefit from a focussed teaching course. Near-peer teaching involves colleagues within close seniority and age proximity teaching one another on a specified topic. Small group teaching sessions were delivered to medical students on 3 key areas of ENT anatomy. Participants were given a precourse and postcourse questionnaire to determine the benefit attained from the course. An undergraduate anatomy course taking place at the University of Birmingham Medical School. A total of 30 medical students: 15 preclinical (years 1-2) and 15 clinical (years 3-5) medical students participated from a single institution. A total of 71% of students expressed inadequate teaching of head and neck anatomy in undergraduate curriculum. All students (n = 30) expressed benefit from the course, however the patterns of learning differed: preclinical students showed a significant improvement in both their ability to name anatomical structures and their application (p < 0.05). Near-peer learning provides benefit to all medical undergraduates in the context of teaching anatomy which may make it a valuable teaching tool for the future of medical education. Copyright © 2018 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Expectations and Implementations of the Flipped Classroom Model in Undergraduate Mathematics Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Naccarato, Emilie; Karakok, Gulden
2015-01-01
The flipped classroom model is being used more frequently in undergraduate mathematics courses. As with any new teaching model, in-depth investigations of both various implementation styles and how the new model improves student learning are needed. Currently, many practitioners have been sharing their implementations of this model. However, there…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rothe, Erhard W.; Zygmunt, William E.
2016-01-01
We inserted a self-taught molecular modeling project into an otherwise conventional undergraduate chemical-reaction-engineering course. Our objectives were that students should (a) learn with minimal instructor intervention, (b) gain an appreciation for the relationship between molecular structure and, first, macroscopic state functions in…
Student Performance in and Perceptions of a High Structure Undergraduate Human Anatomy Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shaffer, Justin F.
2016-01-01
Human anatomy has usually been taught in a didactic fashion in colleges and universities. However, recent calls from United States governmental agencies have called for the transformation of undergraduate life sciences education to include active learning in the classroom. In addition, high structure courses have been shown to increase student…
Student and Faculty Perceptions of ICT Use in Undergraduate Agriculture Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johnson, Donald M.; Edgar, Leslie D.; Cox, Casandra K.
2013-01-01
Students and faculty in a land-grant college of agriculture were surveyed to determine their perceptions of current and future Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use in undergraduate agriculture courses. There was a large, positive relationship (r = 0.83) between student and faculty perceptions of the extent to which 40 specific ICT…
A Shack Interferometer Setup for Optical Testing in Undergraduate Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Vannoni, Maurizio; Righini, Alberto; Salas, Matias; Sordini, Andrea; Vanzi, Leonardo
2012-01-01
The Shack interferometer is a simple and effective device to test optical surfaces in reflection and optical systems in transmission. An essential setup on a reduced scale with a minimum number of components is presented, suited to gain familiarity and practice with optical testing in a laboratory course for undergraduate students. The basic…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Koffman, Bess G.; Kreutz,Karl J.; Trenbath, Kim
2017-01-01
We present a strategy for using scientific argumentation in an early undergraduate laboratory course to teach disciplinary writing practices and to promote critical thinking, knowledge transformation, and understanding of the scientific method. The approach combines targeted writing instruction; data analysis and interpretation; formulation of a…
Introducing the Microcomputer into Undergraduate Tax Courses.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dillaway, Manson P.; Savage, Allan H.
Although accountants have used computers for tax planning and tax return preparation for many years, tax education has been slow to reflect the increasing role of computers in tax accounting. The following are only some of the tasks that a business education department offering undergraduate tax courses for accounting majors should perform when…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Becker, Nicole; Towns, Marcy
2012-01-01
Undergraduate physical chemistry courses require students to be proficient in calculus in order to develop an understanding of thermodynamics concepts. Here we present the findings of a study that examines student understanding of mathematical expressions, including partial derivative expressions, in two undergraduate physical chemistry courses.…
Student Opinions and Perceptions of Undergraduate Thermodynamics Courses in Engineering
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ugursal, V. Ismet; Cruickshank, Cynthia A.
2015-01-01
Thermodynamics is a fundamental foundation of all engineering disciplines. A vast majority of engineering undergraduate programmes contain one or more courses on thermodynamics, and many engineers use thermodynamics every day to analyse or design energy systems. However, there is extensive anecdotal evidence as well as a wide range of published…
Structuring an Undergraduate Mathematics Seminar Dealing with Options and Hedging
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Prevot, K. J.
2006-01-01
Offering mathematics majors the opportunity to engage in current, real-world applications can be an important enhancement to their undergraduate course curriculum. Instead of focusing on the traditional topic areas in pure and/or applied mathematics, one may structure a seminar course for senior mathematics majors by concentrating on a specific…
Undergraduate Mathematics Students' Emotional Experiences in Linear Algebra Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Martínez-Sierra, Gustavo; García-González, María del Socorro
2016-01-01
Little is known about students' emotions in the field of Mathematics Education that go beyond students' emotions in problem solving. To start filling this gap this qualitative research has the aim to identify emotional experiences of undergraduate mathematics students in Linear Algebra courses. In order to obtain data, retrospective focus group…
The Teaching of Educational Psychology 1973: Freedom to Choose.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ripple, Richard E.
In response to renewed interest in undergraduate instruction and to the undergraduate's participation in a humanistic revolt against depersonalization and "scientism," a new educational psychology course has been instituted at Cornell. The 100 to 150 students of varying purposes and interests who enroll in the course are not a coherent group…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wooten, Michelle M.; Coble, Kim; Puckett, Andrew W.; Rector, Travis
2018-01-01
[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Astronomy Education Research.] This study investigates students' perceived impacts regarding their participation in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) in astronomy. Each research experience adopted one or more projects from the Research Based Science Education for Undergraduates…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hurtt, Barbekka; Bryant, Jennifer
2016-01-01
We describe changes in an undergraduate anatomy and physiology (A&P) curriculum designed to address educational goals at a private, comprehensive university. Educational goals included making course material more relevant to students' future career interests, exposing students to professionals in their careers of interest, and incorporating…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kubota, Keiichi; Fujikawa, Kiyoshi
2007-01-01
We implemented a synchronous distance course entitled: Introductory Finance designed for undergraduate students. This course was held between two Japanese universities. Stable Internet connections allowing minimum delay and minimum interruptions of the audio-video streaming signals were used. Students were equipped with their own PCs with…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Aurandt, Jennifer; Borchers, Andrew Scott; Lynch-Caris, Terri; El-Sayed, Jacqueline; Hoff, Craig
2012-01-01
This paper chronicles the development of an interdisciplinary course in environmentally conscious design at Kettering University, a technologically focused Midwestern university. Funded by the National Science Foundation, a team of six faculty members at Kettering University adapted work done by Ford Motor Company to educate undergraduate STEM…
Where Are the Children in Children's Literature? Teaching Children's Literature to Undergraduates.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Grugeon, Elizabeth
An undergraduate course in children's literature was developed at De Montfort University in Bedford, England, United Kingdom (UK). In a children's literature course for first year students from a variety of backgrounds, age groups, and future intents, it is important to consider the discourse of children's literature, to trace intertextual…
Effectiveness of Inquiry-Based Learning in an Undergraduate Exercise Physiology Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nybo, Lars; May, Michael
2015-01-01
The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of changing a laboratory physiology course for undergraduate students from a traditional step-by-step guided structure to an inquiry-based approach. With this aim in mind, quantitative and qualitative evaluations of learning outcomes (individual subject-specific tests and group interviews)…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Metzger, Kelsey J.; Smith, Brittany A.; Brown, Ethan; Soneral, Paula A. G.
2018-01-01
This study describes the development and implementation of an iterative diagnostic and intervention routine designed to elicit and quantitatively describe aspects of student metacognition, affect, and study habits in a first-year undergraduate biology course. The Student Metacognition, Affect, and Study Habits (SMASH) inventory is a…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rasche, Madeline E.
2004-01-01
This work describes outcomes of a research-driven advanced microbiology laboratory and literature research course intended to enhance undergraduate preparation for and contributions to original research. The laboratory section was designed to teach fundamental biochemistry and molecular biology techniques in the context of an original research…
A Spoonful of Success: Undergraduate Tutor-Tutee Interactions and Performance
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marx, Jonathan; Wolf, Michelle G.; Howard, Kimberly
2016-01-01
We explore how the dynamics of the tutor-tutee relationship influence students' self-reliance and, ultimately, course performance. We examine 333 tutor and tutee pairs at a student success center at a public, comprehensive, university attended by approximately 5,000 undergraduates enrolled in more than 60 courses during spring 2015. The results…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Daniels, David; Berkes, Charlotte; Nekoie, Arjan; Franco, Jimmy
2015-01-01
A drug discovery project has been successfully implemented in a first-year general, organic, and biochemistry (GOB) health science course and second-year organic undergraduate chemistry course. This project allows students to apply the fundamental principles of chemistry and biology to a problem of medical significance, practice basic laboratory…
On Solid Legal Ground: Bringing Information Literacy to Undergraduate-Level Law Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ryesky, Kenneth H.
2007-01-01
The complexities of the Internet and other electronic data technologies have greatly heightened the information literacy needs of students in all subjects. Law courses are common components of many undergraduate programs and other settings external to a law degree program. The field of law has many information literacy aspects which are…
A Study of Creative Reasoning Opportunities in Assessments in Undergraduate Calculus Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mac an Bhaird, Ciarán; Nolan, Brien C.; O'Shea, Ann; Pfeiffer, Kirsten
2017-01-01
In this article we present the findings of a research study which investigated the opportunities for creative reasoning (CR) made available to first year undergraduate students in assessments. We compared three first year calculus courses across two Irish universities using Lithner's framework. This framework sets apart imitative reasoning (IR)…
Faculty Beliefs about the Purposes for Teaching Undergraduate Physical Chemistry Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mack, Michael R.; Towns, Marcy H.
2016-01-01
We report the results of a phenomenographic analysis of faculty beliefs about the purposes for teaching upper-division physical chemistry courses in the undergraduate curriculum. A purposeful sampling strategy was used to recruit a diverse group of faculty for interviews. Collectively, the participating faculty regularly teach or have taught…
Recommendations for an Undergraduate Program in Computational Mathematics.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics, Berkeley, CA.
This report describes an undergraduate program designed to produce mathematicians who will know how to use and to apply computers. There is a core of 12 one-semester courses: five in mathematics, four in computational mathematics and three in computer science, leaving the senior year for electives. The content and spirit of these courses are…
Performance, Feedback, and Revision: Metacognitive Approaches to Undergraduate Essay Writing
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Riddell, Jessica
2015-01-01
This paper explores ways in which frequent feedback and clear assessment criteria can improve students' essay writing performance in a first-year English literature course. Students (n = 68) completed a series of three scaffolded exercises over the course of a semester, where they evaluated undergraduate essays using a predetermined assessment…
Heat Exchanger Lab for Chemical Engineering Undergraduates
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rajala, Jonathan W.; Evans, Edward A.; Chase, George G.
2015-01-01
Third year chemical engineering undergraduate students at The University of Akron designed and fabricated a heat exchanger for a stirred tank as part of a Chemical Engineering Laboratory course. The heat exchanger portion of this course was three weeks of the fifteen week long semester. Students applied concepts of scale-up and dimensional…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Birkett, Melissa; Hughes, Amy
2013-01-01
A collaborative project between an academic librarian and faculty member was implemented in an undergraduate psychology course with the goal of integrating specific information literacy learning outcomes relating to students' use of resources. As part of a semester-long, cumulative project, students' annotated bibliography assignments (N = 67),…
Examining Study Habits in Undergraduate STEM Courses from a Situative Perspective
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hora, Matthew T.; Oleson, Amanda K.
2017-01-01
Background: A growing body of research in cognitive psychology and education research is illuminating which study strategies are effective for optimal learning, but little descriptive research focuses on how undergraduate students in STEM courses actually study in real-world settings. Using a practice-based approach informed by situated cognition…
Promoting Undergraduate Student Self-Regulation in Online Learning Environments
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wandler, J. Brad; Imbriale, William J.
2017-01-01
Undergraduate student enrollment in online courses has steadily increased over the years and is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The need for instructors to utilize best practices in online instruction and course design is crucial. This article presents strategies for online instructors to promote student use of self-regulated…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jaswal, Sheila S.; O'Hara, Patricia B.; Williamson, Patrick L.; Springer, Amy L.
2013-01-01
Because understanding the structure of biological macromolecules is critical to understanding their function, students of biochemistry should become familiar not only with viewing, but also with generating and manipulating structural representations. We report a strategy from a one-semester undergraduate biochemistry course to integrate use of…
Using Literature Study Groups to Construct Meaning in an Undergraduate Reading Course.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Roberts, Sherron Killingsworth
1998-01-01
Examines the effectiveness of adding a literature-study-group component to an undergraduate reading diagnosis and remediation course for preservice teachers. Group members read nonfiction works related to literacy, periodically meet to discuss the book and their responses, and share with their classmates. The paper explains how to conduct such…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Burbank, Michael; Odom, Summer F.; Sandlin, M'Randa R.
2015-01-01
Leadership educators seek to understand how they can better develop leadership among their students through formal and informal course experiences. The purpose of this study was to understand how undergraduate students perceive reasons for changes in their leadership practices, after completing a personal leadership education course. The course…
Comparing Online to Face-To-Face Delivery of Undergraduate Digital Circuits Content
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
LaMeres, Brock J.; Plumb, Carolyn
2014-01-01
This paper presents a comparison of online to traditional face-to-face delivery of undergraduate digital systems material. Two specific components of digital content were compared and evaluated: a sophomore logic circuits course with no laboratory, and a microprocessor laboratory component of a junior-level computer systems course. For each of…
A Research on Students' Needs for Follow-Up Curriculum of College English
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jin, Jie; Liu, Hengying; Zhang, Yan
2015-01-01
Increased universities and colleges offer the undergraduates with more follow-up courses with the further reform in college English education in China. An investigation on self-evaluation, difficulty, and willingness of undergraduates in learning English further was made in order to design more appropriate and adaptable follow-up courses. This…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stoltzfus, Michael J.; Reffel, James A.
2009-01-01
Perspectives courses at Valdosta State University are charged with expanding undergraduate students' intellectual and attitudinal horizons by exposing them to both interdisciplinary and multicultural perspectives. The Religion and Culture Perspectives course focuses on how a diversity of religions respond to real-life dilemmas using the medium of…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
He, Yi; Swenson, Sandra; Lents, Nathan
2012-01-01
Educational technology has enhanced, even revolutionized, pedagogy in many areas of higher education. This study examines the incorporation of video tutorials as a supplement to learning in an undergraduate analytical chemistry course. The concepts and problems in which students faced difficulty were first identified by assessing students'…
The Pattern of History of Psychology Teaching on British Undergraduate Psychology Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Richards, Graham
2005-01-01
Teaching of History of Psychology is likely to become increasingly important as the British Psychological Society's 2002 guidelines for approved undergraduate courses are implemented. Results of a survey of History of Psychology teaching during the academic year 1999-2000 are summarised and discussed in the light of these new requirements. While…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Minerick, Adrienne R.
2010-01-01
An implementation and assessment of three creative-learning mechanisms in a research-inspired split undergraduate/graduate course in Analytical Microdevice Technology is described. Microscale research is challenging to incorporate into the classroom due to the phenomena length-scales and the creating learning strategies were used to promote…
Investigating the Use of a Digital Library in an Inquiry-Based Undergraduate Geology Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Apedoe, Xornam S.
2007-01-01
This paper reports the findings of a qualitative research study designed to investigate the opportunities and obstacles presented by a digital library for supporting teaching and learning in an inquiry-based undergraduate geology course. Data for this study included classroom observations and field-notes of classroom practices, questionnaires, and…
Embedding Information Literacy in a First-Year Business Undergraduate Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Price, Robin; Becker, Karen; Clark, Lynette; Collins, Sue
2011-01-01
This article reports on a project to embed information literacy skills development in a first-year undergraduate business course at an Australian university. In accordance with prior research suggesting that first-year students are over-confident about their skills, the project used an optional online quiz to allow students to pre-test their…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lelli, Colleen M.
2010-01-01
This mixed methods study examined preservice teachers' awareness of domestic violence through an undergraduate reading course which focused on children's literature. Pre and post surveys were administered to preservice teachers to determine whether their knowledge and skills in recognizing signs of domestic violence in behaviors of the elementary…
Anxiety in Undergraduate Research Methods Courses: Its Nature and Implications
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Papanastasiou, Elena C.; Zembylas, Michalinos
2008-01-01
The study reported in this article examines the nature of anxiety that undergraduate students experience in a research methods course and explores some of the factors that influence their anxiety levels. Two questionnaires measuring the attitudes towards research and the anxiety level were administered to 472 students enrolled in a research…
Strategies for Using Peer-Assisted Learning Effectively in an Undergraduate Bioinformatics Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shapiro, Casey; Ayon, Carlos; Moberg-Parker, Jordan; Levis-Fitzgerald, Marc; Sanders, Erin R.
2013-01-01
This study used a mixed methods approach to evaluate hybrid peer-assisted learning approaches incorporated into a bioinformatics tutorial for a genome annotation research project. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from undergraduates who enrolled in a research-based laboratory course during two different academic terms at UCLA.…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Figueroa, Carmen I.; González, Cándida
2014-01-01
This paper reports on research into developing research skills in human resources management of apprentices through experiential learning. The target groups were undergraduate business students registered in the Introduction to Personnel and Industrial Relations course. The research identified the appreciation level of importance and satisfaction…
"I Hate History": A Study of Student Engagement in Community College Undergraduate History Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Perrotta, Katherine Assante; Bohan, Chara Haeussler
2013-01-01
Many instructors seek to improve student engagement, but determining how to achieve student engagement can be complex and complicated. The authors sought to explore how the implementation of active-learning strategies in undergraduate history courses at a metropolitan community college using graphic organizers and group discussion impacted student…
Graduate Attribute Attainment in a Multi-Level Undergraduate Geography Course
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mager, Sarah; Spronken-Smith, Rachel
2014-01-01
We investigated students' perceptions of graduate attributes in a multi-level (second and third year) geography course. A case study with mixed methodology was employed, with data collected through focus groups and a survey. We found that undergraduate geography students can identify the skills, knowledge and attributes that are developed through…
Jordan, Tuajuanda C.; Burnett, Sandra H.; Carson, Susan; Caruso, Steven M.; Clase, Kari; DeJong, Randall J.; Dennehy, John J.; Denver, Dee R.; Dunbar, David; Elgin, Sarah C. R.; Findley, Ann M.; Gissendanner, Chris R.; Golebiewska, Urszula P.; Guild, Nancy; Hartzog, Grant A.; Grillo, Wendy H.; Hollowell, Gail P.; Hughes, Lee E.; Johnson, Allison; King, Rodney A.; Lewis, Lynn O.; Li, Wei; Rosenzweig, Frank; Rubin, Michael R.; Saha, Margaret S.; Sandoz, James; Shaffer, Christopher D.; Taylor, Barbara; Temple, Louise; Vazquez, Edwin; Ware, Vassie C.; Barker, Lucia P.; Bradley, Kevin W.; Jacobs-Sera, Deborah; Pope, Welkin H.; Russell, Daniel A.; Cresawn, Steven G.; Lopatto, David; Bailey, Cheryl P.; Hatfull, Graham F.
2014-01-01
ABSTRACT Engaging large numbers of undergraduates in authentic scientific discovery is desirable but difficult to achieve. We have developed a general model in which faculty and teaching assistants from diverse academic institutions are trained to teach a research course for first-year undergraduate students focused on bacteriophage discovery and genomics. The course is situated within a broader scientific context aimed at understanding viral diversity, such that faculty and students are collaborators with established researchers in the field. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) course has been widely implemented and has been taken by over 4,800 students at 73 institutions. We show here that this alliance-sourced model not only substantially advances the field of phage genomics but also stimulates students’ interest in science, positively influences academic achievement, and enhances persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Broad application of this model by integrating other research areas with large numbers of early-career undergraduate students has the potential to be transformative in science education and research training. PMID:24496795
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gurtler, G.
2017-12-01
We discuss the challenges and achievements that a small HSI college had integrating undergraduate research experiences into an existing natural sciences program. Like most introductory college science courses, our natural science courses used textbooks, PowerPoint presentations, and lectures to illustrate basic scientific concepts. Though a collective decision was made by our science faculty to incorporate undergraduate research projects into various STEM courses, our greatest challenge was incorporating mandatory research courses into the degree plans of our Natural Science program. We found that students made considerable progress in understanding natural science by critically evaluating primary research articles and undertaking small research projects. Many of these student projects were conducted in cooperation with the Albuquerque District of the US Army Corps of Engineers, United States Geological Survey in Denver, and the National Ice Core Laboratory. These projects illustrated the effects of climate change on the water quality, sediment buildup, and biodiversity at local reservoirs. Other projects involved the analysis of ice core samples from Greenland and Antarctica. Students presented research posters at various research venues, including Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative colloquiums.
What physicists should learn about finance (if they want to)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Schmidt, Anatoly
2006-03-01
There has been growing interest among physicists to Econophysics, i.e. analysis and modeling of financial and economic processes using the concepts of theoretical Physics. There has been also perception that the financial industry is a viable alternative for those physicists who are not able or are not willing to pursue career in their major field. However in our times, the Wall Street expects from applicants for quantitative positions not only the knowledge of the stochastic calculus and the methods of time series analysis but also of such concepts as option pricing, portfolio management, and risk measurement. Here I describe a synthetic course based on my book ``Quantitative Finance for Physicists'' (Elsevier, 2004) that outlines both worlds: Econophysics and Mathematical Finance. This course may be offered as elective for senior undergraduate or graduate Physics majors.
On the structural logic of curriculum system for the optical instrument major
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yan, Yufeng; Yan, Juncen; Li, Yang; Shi, Lixia
2017-08-01
The theories of optical instrument are the Interdisciplinary of Optical Engineering and Instrument Science and Technology. The undergraduates should study the knowledge about the optics, precision machine and electronics. The courses such as Theory of Machine, Engineering Optics, even include some courses about Accuracy Analysis of Instrument are offered in the college. There are a lot of correlatives among these courses. This paper focuses on the structural logic of these courses. The order of these courses is researched, The aims of all the courses are clear completely to avoid the same topics to be taught twice in different courses. Therefore, the undergraduates would get the main line of the knowledge, and the professors would teach efficiently.
Jones, Leslie Sargent; Allen, Laura; Cronise, Kim; Juneja, Natasha; Kohn, Rebecca; McClellan, Katherine; Miller, Ashley; Nazir, Azka; Patel, Andy; Sweitzer, Sarah M.; Vickery, Erin; Walton, Anna; Young, Robert
2011-01-01
The journal IMPULSE offers undergraduates worldwide the opportunity to publish research and serve as peer reviewers for the submissions of others. Undergraduate faculty have recognized the journal’s value in engaging students working in their labs in the publication process. However, integration of scientific publication into an undergraduate laboratory classroom setting has been lacking. We report here on a course at Ursinus College where 20 students taking Molecular Neurobiology were required to submit manuscripts to IMPULSE. The syllabus allowed for the laboratory research to coincide with the background research and writing of the manuscript. Students completed their projects on the impact of drugs on the Daphnia magna nervous system while producing manuscripts ready for submission by week 7 of the course. Findings from a survey completed by the students and perceptions of the faculty member teaching the course indicated that students spent much more time writing, were more focused on completing the assays, completed the assays with larger data sets, were more engaged in learning the scientific concepts and were more thorough with their revisions of the paper knowing that it might be published. Further, the professor found she was more thorough in critiquing students’ papers knowing they would be externally reviewed. Incorporating journal submission into the course stimulated an in depth writing experience and allowed for a deeper exploration of the topic than students would have experienced otherwise. This case study provides evidence that IMPULSE can be successfully used as a means of incorporating scientific publication into an undergraduate laboratory science course. This approach to teaching undergraduate neuroscience allows for a larger number of students to have hands-on research and scientific publishing experience than would be possible with the current model of a few students in a faculty member’s laboratory. This report illustrates that IMPULSE can be incorporated as an integral part of an academic curriculum with positive outcomes on student engagement and performance. PMID:23494013
Khatib, Manaf; Soukup, Benjamin; Boughton, Oliver; Amin, Kavit; Davis, Christopher R; Evans, David M
2015-08-01
Plastic surgery teaching has a limited role in the undergraduate curriculum. We held a 1-day national course in plastic surgery for undergraduates. Our aim was to introduce delegates to plastic surgery and teach basic plastic surgical skills. We assessed change in perceptions of plastic surgery and change in confidence in basic plastic surgical skills. The day consisted of consultant-led lectures followed by workshops in aesthetic suturing, local flap design, and tendon repair. A questionnaire divided into 3 sections, namely, (1) career plans, (2) perceptions of plastic surgery, and (3) surgical skills and knowledge, was completed by 39 delegates before and after the course. Results were presented as mean scores and the standard error of the mean used to calculate data spread. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test for nonparametric data. Career plans: Interest in pursuing a plastic surgery career significantly increased over the course of the day by 12.5% (P < 0.0005).Perceptions: Statistically significant changes were observed in many categories of plastic surgery, including the perception of the role of plastic surgeons in improving patient quality of life, increased by 18.31% (P = 0.063). Before the course 10% of delegates perceived plastic surgery to be a superficial discipline and 20% perceived that plastic surgeons did not save lives. After completing the course, no delegates held those views.Surgical skills: Confidence to perform subcuticular and deep dermal sutures improved by 53% (P < 0.0001) and 57% (P < 0.0001), respectively. Delegates' subjective understanding of the basic geometry of local flaps improved by 94% (P < 0.0001). Interestingly, before the course, 2.5% of delegates drew an accurate modified Kessler suture compared with 87% of on completion of the course. A 1-day intensive undergraduate plastic surgery course can significantly increase delegates' desire to pursue a career in plastic surgery, dispel common misconceptions about this field, and increase their confidence in performing the taught skills. The results of this course demonstrate that a 1-day course is an effective means of teaching basic plastic surgery skills to undergraduates and highlights the potential role for local plastic surgery departments in advancing plastic surgery education.
The Music Industry as a Vehicle for Economic Analysis
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Klein, Christopher C.
2015-01-01
Issues arising in the music industry in response to the availability of digital music files provide an opportunity for exposing undergraduate students to economic analyses rarely covered in the undergraduate economics curriculum. Three of these analyses are covered here: the optimal copyright term, the effect of piracy or illegal file sharing, and…
Peace Economics and Program Change in Undergraduate Peace Studies Programs
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Reuschlein, Robert W.
2009-01-01
The purpose of this study was to create knowledge about peace economics content of Midwest undergraduate peace studies programs, barriers that constrain economic content expansion, and strategies to overcome these barriers. A 40 question survey of directors and 4 director interviews were used to gather data to test hypotheses on the curriculum…
Mineral Physics Educational Modules for Advanced Undergraduates and Graduate Students
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Burnley, P. C.; Thomas, S.; Honn, D. K.
2011-12-01
We are assembling a group of web-based educational modules for a course entitled "Introduction to Mineral Physics". Although the modules are designed to function as part of a full semester course, each module will also be able to stand alone. The modules are targeted at entry level graduate students and advanced undergraduate students. Learning outcomes for the course are being developed in consultation with educators throughout the mineral physics community. Potential users include mineral physicists teaching "bricks and mortar" graduate classes at their own institutions, mineral physicists teaching graduate classes in a distance education setting, mineralogy teachers interested in including supplementary material in their undergraduate mineralogy class, undergraduates doing independent study projects and graduate students and colleagues in other subdisciplines who wish to brush up on mineral physics topics. The modules reside on the Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College web site in the On the Cutting Edge - Teaching Mineralogy collection. Links to the materials will be posted on the Consortium for Materials Properties Research in Earth Sciences website. The modules will be piloted in a graduate level distance education course in mineral physics taught from UNLV during the spring 2012 semester. This course and others like it can address the current problems faced by faculty in state universities where rising minimum enrollments are making it difficult to teach a suitable graduate course to incoming students.
What is happening in psychology of learning courses?
Lattal, Kennon A.; McFarland, Jennifer M.; Joyce, James H.
1990-01-01
Current practices in the undergraduate Psychology of Learning course were assessed through a survey in which a questionnaire probing the teaching of the course was sent to 238 4-year colleges and universities in the United States. Fifty-four percent of the questionnaires were returned. Learning courses were taught at all but 10 of the schools that responded. The course typically is one of several that can be selected to fulfill requirements for the major in psychology. The course orientation and content varied widely from cognitive to eclectic to behavioral, and laboratory requirements existed in less than half of the courses. The effects of these practices on behavior analysis are considered and several suggestions are made for teaching behavior analysis in the Learning course and elsewhere to undergraduates. PMID:22478060
‘The physics of life,’ an undergraduate general education biophysics course
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Parthasarathy, Raghuveer
2015-05-01
Improving the scientific literacy of non-scientists is an important aim, both because of the ever-increasing impact of science on our lives and because understanding science enriches our experience of the natural world. One route to improving scientific literacy is via general education undergraduate courses—i.e. courses for students not majoring in the sciences or engineering. Because it encompasses a variety of important scientific concepts, demonstrates connections between basic science and real-world applications and illustrates the creative ways in which scientific insights develop, biophysics is a useful subject with which to promote scientific literacy. I describe here a course on biophysics for non-science-major undergraduates recently developed at the University of Oregon (Eugene, OR, USA), noting its design, which spans both macroscopic and microscopic topics, and the specific content of a few of its modules. I also describe evidence-based pedagogical approaches adopted in teaching the course and aspects of course enrollment and evaluation.
Enhancing Student Learning of Research Methods through the Use of Undergraduate Teaching Assistants
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Crowe, Jessica; Ceresola, Ryan; Silva, Tony
2014-01-01
By using a quasi-experimental design, in this study, we test the effect of undergraduate teaching assistants on student learning. Data were collected from 170 students enrolled in four sections of a quantitative research methods course, two sections without undergraduate teaching assistants and two sections with undergraduate teaching assistants,…
A Survey of Computer Science Capstone Course Literature
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dugan, Robert F., Jr.
2011-01-01
In this article, we surveyed literature related to undergraduate computer science capstone courses. The survey was organized around course and project issues. Course issues included: course models, learning theories, course goals, course topics, student evaluation, and course evaluation. Project issues included: software process models, software…
Undergraduate Research and Economic Development: A Systems Approach in Wisconsin
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Van Galen, Dean; Schneider-Rebozo, Lissa; Havholm, Karen; Andrews, Kris
2015-01-01
This chapter presents the state of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin System as an ongoing case study for best practices in systematic, intentional, statewide programming and initiatives connecting undergraduate research and economic development.
Trends in Undergraduate Economics Degrees, 1991-2012
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Siegfried, John J.
2013-01-01
The 2007-10 growth spurt (18 percent over three years) in U.S. undergraduate economics degrees came to an abrupt end in 2011 and 2012. Degrees awarded grew less than one percent over the past two years.
Smith, Jason T; Harris, Justine C; Lopez, Oscar J; Valverde, Laura; Borchert, Glen M
2015-01-01
The sequencing of whole genomes and the analysis of genetic information continues to fundamentally change biological and medical research. Unfortunately, the people best suited to interpret this data (biologically trained researchers) are commonly discouraged by their own perceived computational limitations. To address this, we developed a course to help alleviate this constraint. Remarkably, in addition to equipping our undergraduates with an informatic toolset, we found our course design helped prepare our students for collaborative research careers in unexpected ways. Instead of simply offering a traditional lecture- or laboratory-based course, we chose a guided inquiry method, where an instructor-selected research question is examined by students in a collaborative analysis with students contributing to experimental design, data collection, and manuscript reporting. While students learn the skills needed to conduct bioinformatic research throughout all sections of the course, importantly, students also gain experience in working as a team and develop important communication skills through working with their partner and the class as a whole, and by contributing to an original research article. Remarkably, in its first three semesters, this novel computational genetics course has generated 45 undergraduate authorships across three peer-reviewed articles. More importantly, the students that took this course acquired a positive research experience, newfound informatics technical proficiency, unprecedented familiarity with manuscript preparation, and an earned sense of achievement. Although this course deals with analyses of genetic systems, we suggest the basic concept of integrating actual research projects into a 16-week undergraduate course could be applied to numerous other research-active academic fields. © 2015 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Miller, Jason E; Walston, Timothy
2010-01-01
Inspired by BIO2010 and leveraging institutional and external funding, Truman State University built an undergraduate program in mathematical biology with high-quality, faculty-mentored interdisciplinary research experiences at its core. These experiences taught faculty and students to bridge the epistemological gap between the mathematical and life sciences. Together they created the infrastructure that currently supports several interdisciplinary courses, an innovative minor degree, and long-term interdepartmental research collaborations. This article describes how the program was built with support from the National Science Foundation's Interdisciplinary Training for Undergraduates in Biology and Mathematics program, and it shares lessons learned that will help other undergraduate institutions build their own program.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Silvey, Brian A.; Major, Marci L.
2014-01-01
This multiple case study examined undergraduate music majors' perceptions of their experiences while enrolled in a basic conducting course. During the semester, three sophomore music majors with an emphasis in band, choir, or orchestra each participated in three interviews, completed weekly reflection logs, and attended an end-of-the-semester…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kopelevich, Dmitry I.; Ziegler, Kirk J.; Lindner, Angela S.; Bonzongo, Jean-Claude J.
2012-01-01
Because rapid growth of nanotechnology is expected to lead to intentional and non-intentional releases, future engineers will need to minimize negative environmental and health impacts of nanomaterials. We developed two upper-level undergraduate courses centered on life-cycle assessment of nanomaterials. The first part of the course sequence…
Paint Analysis Using Visible Reflectance Spectroscopy: An Undergraduate Forensic Lab
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hoffman, Erin M.; Beussman, Douglas J.
2007-01-01
The study of forensic science is found throughout undergraduate programs in growing numbers, both as stand-alone courses as well as specific examples within existing courses. Part of the driving force for this trend is the ability to apply common chemistry techniques to everyday situations, all couched in the context of a mystery that must be…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tai, Shu-hui April
2016-01-01
The aim of this study is to investigate Taiwanese undergraduate students' perception of using computer-mediated communication (CMC) in a TOEIC preparation course and determine if using an online format motivates them to succeed. As a result, five factors are addressed in the study, namely, attitude, motivation, study habit, feedback, and…
An Undergraduate Course in Adult Development: When the Virtual Adult Is an Adult
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Williams, Robert B.
2014-01-01
An aspect of an undergraduate psychology course on adult development was the preparation of case records on adults who consented to be studied. Participants (1) developed their abilities to observe and accurately record adult behavior across a variety of ages and contexts; (2) withheld judgments about behavior when evidence was lacking; (3)…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chase, Anthony M.
2016-01-01
This dissertation consists of two studies at the United States Military Academy. Both studies involve the use of Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs). These experiences give students the ability to engage in undergraduate research at an early point in their academic career by replacing traditional laboratory activities with…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Top, Ercan
2012-01-01
The purpose of the study was to examine pre-service teachers' sense of community, perception of collaborative learning, and perceived learning. Fifty pre-service teachers from two undergraduate ICT courses which incorporated blogs participated in this study. The data were obtained via three online questionnaires (Collaborative Learning scale,…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Larripa, Kamila R.; Mazzag, Borbala
2016-01-01
Our paper describes a solution we found to a still existing need to develop mathematical modeling courses for undergraduate biology majors. Some challenges of such courses are: (i) relatively limited exposure of biology students to higher-level mathematical and computational concepts; (ii) availability of texts that can give a flavor of how…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 2006
2006-01-01
A course in Exercise Physiology is a common requirement among undergraduate students preparing for a career in physical education, adult fitness, or athletic training. Often, such courses are taught to an assortment of students from a variety of disciplines (Van Donselaar & Leslie, 1990) with an emphasis on physiological principles applied to…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marbach-Ad, Gili; McGinnis, J. Randy; Pease, Rebecca; Dai, Amy; Benson, Spencer; Dantley, Scott Jackson
2010-01-01
We investigated curricular and pedagogical innovations in undergraduate science courses for non-science majors at a Historically Black Institution (HBI) and a Primarily White Institution (PWI). The aims were to improve students' understanding of science, increase their enthusiasm towards science by connecting their prior experience and interest to…
Issues in the Development of Undergraduate Courses on the Psychosocial Implications of AIDS.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Heyman, Steven R.
This paper discusses the issues that should be addressed in an undergraduate course dealing with the psychosocial implications of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). These issues are: (1) the medical aspects of HIV infection and transmission; (2) death and dying versus life and living; (3) homosexuality; (4) intravenous drug use; (5)…
Wireless Mapping, GIS, and Learning about the Digital Divide: A Classroom Experience
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Giordano, Alberto; Lu, Yongmei; Anderson, Sharolyn; Fonstad, Mark
2007-01-01
The purpose of this article is to describe a capstone course in undergraduate student geographical research in which GIS and other geospatial tools were used to teach undergraduate students basic geographical principles. The course uses the "cooperative learning" pedagogical approach to address one of a number of client-supplied research projects,…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Luethge, Denise J.; Raska, David; Greer, Bertie M.; O'Connor, Christina
2016-01-01
Today's business school academics are tasked with pedagogy that offers students an understanding of the globalization of markets and the cross-cultural communication skills needed in today's business environment. The authors describe how a virtual cross-cultural experience was integrated into an undergraduate business course and used as an…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yousef, Darwish Abdulrahamn
2017-01-01
Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the impacts of teaching style, English language and communication and assessment methods on the academic performance of undergraduate business students in introductory quantitative courses such as Statistics for Business 1 and 2, Quantitative Methods for Business, Operations and Production Management and…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sommer, Max; Ritzhaupt, Albert D.
2018-01-01
Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the flipped classroom model on learner achievement and satisfaction for undergraduate learners Background: The context for this research on the flipped classroom was an introductory technology literacy course at a public, research university. Methodology: This study employed a…
Project LITE: Light Inquiry Through Experiments
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Brecher, Kenneth
2007-06-01
"Project LITE: Light Inquiry Through Experiments" is a science education project aimed at developing interactive hands-on and eyes-on curriculum, software and materials about light and optics. These are being developed for use in undergraduate astronomy courses, but they can also be used to advantage in physics, chemistry, Earth science and psychology courses throughout the K-12 and undergraduate curriculum.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rich, Anne J.; Dereshiwsky, Mary I.
2011-01-01
This paper presents the results of a study assessing the comparative effectiveness of teaching an undergraduate intermediate accounting course in the online classroom format. Students in a large state university were offered an opportunity to complete the first course in intermediate accounting either online or on-campus. Students were required to…
Approaches to the Teaching of Bioethics and Professional Ethics in Undergraduate Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Downie, Roger; Clarkeburn, Henriikka
2005-01-01
The role of ethics in bioscience undergraduate degrees is now widely accepted, but how ethics should be taught, who should teach it and what the curriculum should include are matters for debate. This article discusses teaching strategies: specialist options, or embed ethics in other courses, or both; use of professional philosophers, or…
Undergraduate Students' Preferences for Constructed versus Multiple-Choice Assessment of Learning
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mingo, Maya A.; Chang, Hsin-Hui; Williams, Robert L.
2018-01-01
Students (N = 161) in seven sections of an undergraduate educational psychology course rated ten performance-assessment options in collegiate courses. They rated in-class essay exams as their most preferred assessment and multiple-choice exams (in-class and out-of-class) as their least preferred. Also, student ratings of multiple papers and a term…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ricketts, Glenn; Wood, Peter R.; Balch, Stephen H.; Thorne, Ashley
2011-01-01
"The Vanishing West" traces the decline and near extinction of the Western Civilization history survey course in America's top colleges and universities from 1964 to 2010. This course, covering classical antiquity to the present, was once part of the undergraduate curriculum's intellectual bedrock, not only because it was often a graduation…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lawton, Jeffrey A.; Prescott, Noelle A.; Lawton, Ping X.
2018-01-01
We have developed an integrated, project-oriented curriculum for undergraduate molecular biology and biochemistry laboratory courses spanning two semesters that is organized around the "ldhA" gene from the yogurt-fermenting bacterium "Lactobacillus bulgaricus," which encodes the enzyme d-lactate dehydrogenase. The molecular…
A Systematic Approach to Educating the Emerging Adult Learner in Undergraduate Management Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dachner, Alison M.; Polin, Beth
2016-01-01
Management education research has provided educators with new instructional tools to improve course design and update the methods used in the classroom. In an effort to provide the typical undergraduate management student with the best possible learning experience and outcomes, it is important to recognize how and why these new activities benefit…
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Hsieh, Pei-Hsuan Peggy; Schallert, Diane L.
2008-01-01
Although studies on self-efficacy and attribution have independently contributed to the motivation literature, these two constructs have rarely been considered together in the domain of foreign language learning. Here, 500 undergraduates in Spanish, German, and French courses were asked to report whether test scores represented a successful or…
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Pedwell, Rhianna K.; Fraser, James A.; Wang, Jack T. H.; Clegg, Jack K.; Chartres, Jy D.; Rowland, Susan L.
2018-01-01
Course-integrated Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) involve large numbers of students in real research. We describe a late-year microbiology CURE in which students use yeast to address a research question around beer brewing or synthesizing biofuel; the interdisciplinary student-designed project incorporates genetics, bioinformatics,…
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Rodenbusch, Stacia E.; Hernandez, Paul R.; Simmons, Sarah L.; Dolan, Erin L.
2016-01-01
National efforts to transform undergraduate biology education call for research experiences to be an integral component of learning for all students. Course-based undergraduate research experiences, or CUREs, have been championed for engaging students in research at a scale that is not possible through apprenticeships in faculty research…
Factors That Affect Students' Capacity to Fulfill the Role of Online Learner
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Comer, Debra R.; Lenaghan, Janet A.; Sengupta, Kaushik
2015-01-01
Because most undergraduate students are digital natives, it is widely believed that they will succeed in online courses. But factors other than technology also affect students' ability to fulfill the role of online learner. Self-reported data from a sample of more than 200 undergraduates across multiple online courses indicate that students…
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Kortz, Karen M.; van der Hoeven Kraft, Katrien J.
2016-01-01
Undergraduate research has been shown to be an effective practice for learning science. While this is a popular discussion topic, there are few full examples in the literature for introductory-level students. This paper describes the Geoscience Education Research Project, an innovative course-based research experience designed for…
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Alpay, Nimet; Ratvasky, Pamela; Koehler, Natalya; LeVally, Carolyn; Washington, Tawana
2017-01-01
This case study investigated the impact of the Statistical Concepts course redesign on the retention, performance, and satisfaction of non-traditional undergraduate students. The redesign used a systematic approach and has been yielding positive impacts over 5 trimesters. Student attrition rates on average decreased by 12% and the number of…
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Jiménez, Verónica A.; Acuña, Fabiola C.; Quiero, Felipe J.; López, Margarita; Zahn, Carmen I.
2015-01-01
This work describes the preliminary results of a tutoring program that provides personalized academic assistance to first-year undergraduates enrolled in introductory chemistry, physics and mathematics courses at Universidad Andres Bello (UNAB), in Concepción, Chile. Intervened courses have historically large enrolments, diverse student population…
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De Juan, Joaquin; Pérez-Cañaveras, Rosa M.; Segovia, Yolanda; Girela, Jose Luis; Martínez-Ruiz, Noemi; Romero-Rameta, Alejandro; Gómez-Torres, Maria José; Vizcaya-Moreno, M. Flores
2016-01-01
Cell biology is an academic discipline that organises and coordinates the learning of the structure, function and molecular composition of cells in some undergraduate biomedical programs. Besides course content and teaching methodologies, the laboratory environment is considered a key element in the teaching of and learning of cell biology. The…
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O'Connell, Stephen D.; Lang, Guido
2018-01-01
A field experiment was conducted to investigate whether personalized e-mail reminders can improve study consistency and learning outcomes in an introductory-level undergraduate course. By randomly assigning whether nearly 300 students would receive occasional e-mail messages encouraging out-of-class study, we find that these reminders increased…
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Loizzo, Jamie; Lillard, Patrick
2015-01-01
Undergraduate students at land-grant institutions across the country are often unaware of the depth and breadth of Extension services and careers. Agricultural communication students collaborated with an Extension programmatic team in a blended and project-based course at Purdue University to develop online videos about small farm agricultural…
Formative plus Summative Assessment in Large Undergraduate Courses: Why Both?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Glazer, Nirit
2014-01-01
One of the main challenges in large undergraduate courses in higher education, especially those with multiple-sections, is to monitor what is going on at the section level and to track the consistency across sections in both instruction and grading. In this paper, it can be argued that a combination of both formative and summative assessment is…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Czworkowski, John; Seethaler, Sherry
2013-01-01
The California Teach Program at the University of California, San Diego, recruits and prepares undergraduates interested in teaching science and mathematics. One of the products of the program is a set of courses taught by faculty in science disciplines that integrate subject matter with theories of learning and instruction, with the goal of…
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Beveridge, Tyler S.; Fruchter, Lauren L.; Sanmartin, Cleo V.; deLottinville, Carl B.
2014-01-01
Recent studies suggest that the quality of reflective practice being achieved in educational settings is inadequate. Our study aims to determine the level of reflection present in written student reflections in a nonprofessional undergraduate course. We also seek to explore student and instructor perspectives on the value of reflective practices.…
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Gill, T. Grandon; Ritzhaupt, Albert D.
2013-01-01
The information systems capstone experience for undergraduate majors is a topic frequently discussed in academic circles within the field. Though very little consensus exists on this topic, there are core themes that emerge in the design, development, and delivery of the undergraduate capstone courses. Our analysis of prior literature reveals four…
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Gehring, Kathleen M.; Eastman, Deborah A.
2008-01-01
Many initiatives for the improvement of undergraduate science education call for inquiry-based learning that emphasizes investigative projects and reading of the primary literature. These approaches give students an understanding of science as a process and help them integrate content presented in courses. At the same time, general initiatives to…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yoon, Caroline; Sneddon, Jamie
2011-01-01
Tablet PCs have been increasingly used in undergraduate courses to create recorded lectures that are close copies of the live lectures. Research has shown that students are largely positive about the availability of tablet PC recorded lectures. However, there is some concern that the availability of such faithful recordings may encourage students…
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Finch, David; Nadeau, John; O'Reilly, Norm
2018-01-01
Scholars suggest that the dynamic nature of marketing has put both the marketing profession and marketing education at a crossroads. This study is an analysis of marketing programs by conceptual knowledge and metaskills. In a content analysis of course descriptions for 523 undergraduate marketing courses in Canada from 40 universities, the…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lee, Sang Joon; Wilder, Charlie; Yu, Chien
2018-01-01
Service-learning is an experiential learning experience where students learn and develop through active participation in community service to meet the needs of a community. This study explored student learning experiences in a service-learning group project and their perceptions of service-learning in an undergraduate web design course. The data…
History of Mathematics: Three Activities to Use with Undergraduate Students and In-Service Teachers
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Loats, Jim; White, Diana; Rubino, Carmen
2014-01-01
We provide in-depth information and analysis on three activities for use in History of Mathematics courses taught either in a traditional semester format for undergraduates or in a summer professional development course for middle school teachers. These activities require students to be active participants in their own learning. They also…